Fight or Light!

page 6

Wildland Fire 

Edition

Pecking 

Order

page 33

aPods Rule!

page 14

Snake, Rattle, 

and Roll!

page 58

Number 13
Cradle of Forestry 

Interpretive Association

Alex Comfort, Executive 

Director

Stuart Ryman, Chairman

With thanks to

Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science 

Program; Missoula Fire 

Sciences Laboratory; Rocky 

Mountain Research Station, 

Forest Service

Cooperative Fire Management 

Program; Northeastern Area 

State and Private Forestry, 

Forest Service

Jane Smith, Rocky Mountain 

Research Station, Forest 

Service

Julie Molzahn, Northern 

Region, Forest Service

National Wildfire Coordinating 

Group—Communication, 

Education, and Prevention 

Committee

John Owens, Bureau of Land 

Management

Maureen T. Brooks, Forest 

Service

Cover photos credits: 1910 Fire photo 

courtesy of Forest Service Northern Region 

Archives; Fire photo by Kari Greer, National 

Interagency Fire Center; Round-headed 

katydid photo by Susan Ellis, http://Bugwood.

org; Black-backed woodpecker photo by Terry 

Spivey, Forest Service, http://Bugwood.org; 

Western diamondback rattlesnake photo by 

North Central Research Station Archive, Forest 

Service, http://Bugwood.org. 

Natural Inquirer

Project Staff

Babs McDonald, Forest Service

Jessica Nickelsen, Cradle 

of Forestry Interpretive 

Association

Michelle Andrews, University 

of Georgia

Rachel Small, Cradle of 

Forestry Interpretive 

Association

Emily Melear Daniels, Cradle 

of Forestry Interpretive 

Association

Forest Service scientists 

highlighted in the journal

Deborah Finch, Rocky 

Mountain Research Station

James Hanula, Southern 

Research Station 

Pamela Jakes, Northern 

Research Station

Susan Loeb, Southern Research 

Station 

Malcolm North, Pacific 

Southwest Research Station

Joseph O’Brien, Southern 

Research Station 

Anna Schoettle, Rocky 

Mountain Research Station

Jane E. Smith, Pacific 

Northwest Research Station 

Alan Watson, Rocky Mountain 

Research Station

Daniel Williams, Rocky 

Mountain Research Station

Wildland Fire Edition • Number 13 • Summer 2010

Other scientists 

highlighted in the journal

Heather Bateman, University 

of New Mexico

Bill Borrie, University of 

Montana 

Jonathan Coop, Western State 

College of Colorado

Stephanie Grayzeck-Souter, 

Minnesota Pollution Control 

Agency

Chad Hanson, University of 

California at Davis

Cassie Hebel, Watershed 

Sciences, Corvallis, Oregon

Adam Liljeblad, National Forest 

Foundation

Alice Chung-MacCoubrey, 

National Park Service 

Kristen Nelson, University of 

Minnesota

Stephen Pyne, Arizona State 

University

Forest Service

Washington, DC

Tom Tidwell, Chief

Ann Bartuska, Deputy Chief, 

Research and Development

Jim Hubbard, Deputy Chief, 

State and Private Forestry

John Sebelius, Staff Director, 

Science Quality Services

Safiya Samman, Staff Director, 

Conservation Education

Starting with this issue, the Natural Inquirer is moving to a new 

numbering system. This is the 13th issue in the series. Future issues 

will continue to number the publication consecutively in the series.
1

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Contents

What’s Inside

Editorial Review Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

About the Natural Inquirer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Who Are Scientists? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Welcome to the Wildland Fire Edition of 

the Natural Inquirer! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Features:

 Fight or Light? The History and Impact of 

the Big Fires of 1910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

 aPods Rule! What Happens to Arthropods 

Following a Wildland Fire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

 Keeping It Local: How Federal Wildfire 

Policy Is Implemented at the Local Level . . . . . . 25

 Pecking Order: What Types of Post-Fire 

Snag Areas Do Woodpeckers Prefer? . . . . . . . . . 33

 Trust Is a Must: What Is Involved in Trusting 

Those Who Manage Forest Fires? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

 Can We Grow Now? Helping Bristlecone 

Pine Trees To Take Root and Grow . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

 Snake, Rattle, and Roll: Investigating Snakes 

That Live in the Bosque Along the Middle 

Rio Grande . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

 Don’t Judge a Soil by Its Color: Exploring 

Forest Soil Following a Wildfire................ 67

Word Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Note to Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Lesson Plan #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Lesson Plan #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Answers to Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Possible Answers to Reflection Questions . . . . . . 85

What Is the Forest Service? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Which National Science Education Standards 

Can Be Addressed by this Edition of the 

Natural Inquirer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

33

58

6

14
2

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Editorial Review Board 

Natural Inquirer review board: C. S. Porter Middle School, 

Missoula County Public Schools, Missoula, Montana, Mr. Blake Love, Teacher

Natural Inquirer editorial review board hard at work.

The Natural Inquirer is reproduced on recycled paper with soy-based inks. Please pass this journal along or recycle it when you have finished using it. 

http://www.naturalinquirer.org

“You might want to explain what the Forest Service is.”

 “Vocabulary should be all highlighted and referenced

in the back, or all explained in the passage.”

“Good writing. History is fun. 

Really explains what’s going on.”

 “Maybe use clearer pictures when published.”

“Good question. I don’t know the answer though.”

“All of the explanations seem to be toward the end of the 

article (not really good or bad thing just noticing).”

“[Title] not catchy enough...more curiosity.

Have the title grab your attention.

 “Use a bigger picture, so they know what you are 

talking about.”

 “You are a great writer. This was an 

awesome article to read!”

“Wow! That lizard is really weird looking...But really 

cool. Great Job!! Loved the pictures!”

“Sentence was repeated earlier. Maybe format differently.”

 “Maybe tell them what vegetation is...”

Comments from the National Inquirer editorial review board:
3

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

About the Natural Inquirer

Who Are Scientists?

Scientists are people who collect and 

evaluate information about a wide range 

of topics. Some scientists study the 

natural environment. To be a successful 

environmental scientist, you must:

b Be curious—You must be 

interested in learning.

b Be enthusiastic—You must be interested 

in an environmental topic.

Scientists report their research in 

journals, which are special booklets that 

enable scientists to share information 

with one another. This journal, the Natural 

Inquirer, was created so that scientists can 

share their research with you and with other 

middle school students. Each article tells you 

about scientific research conducted by scientists 

in the Forest Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture. If you want to know more about 

the Forest Service, you can read about it on 

page 92 of this journal, or you can visit the 

Natural Inquirer Web site at http://www.

naturalinquirer.org.

All of the research in the Natural Inquirer is 

concerned with nature, such as trees, forests, 

animals, insects, outdoor activities, and 

water. First, you will meet the scientists who 

conducted the research. Then you will read 

something special about science and about the 

natural environment. You will also read about a 

specific research project. This is written in the 

format that scientists use when they publish 

their research in journals. Then, YOU will 

become the scientist when you conduct the 

FACTivity associated with each article. Don’t 

forget to look at the glossary and the special 

sections highlighted in each article.

At the end of each section of the article, you 

will find a few questions to help you think about 

what you have read. Your teacher may use 

these questions in a class discussion.

b Be careful—You must be accurate in 

everything that you do.

b Be open minded—You must be willing to 

listen to new ideas.

b Question everything—You must think 

about what you read and observe.
4

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Welcome

to the Wildland Fire Edition of the Natural Inquirer!

One hundred years ago, forest fires 

roared across the Northern United 

States. Although fires burned in New 

England and upper Midwestern States, the 

fires of Montana, Idaho, and Washington 

State were by far the worst of that year. On 2 

days in August 1910, much of northern Idaho 

and western Montana were ablaze. The fires 

of those 2 days are called “the Big Blowup” by 

foresters. The Big Blowup changed the way 

Americans viewed wildland fire. These fires 

also profoundly affected the Forest Service. 

Following the Big Blowup, fighting wildland fire 

became its chief mission for almost 75 years. 

This edition of the Natural Inquirer focuses 

on wildland fire. Wildland fire has been 

defined as any fire occurring in vegetation 

areas regardless of how it was started. In this 

edition, you will learn about different types of 

wildland fires, including uncontrolled wildfires 

and fires purposely set and controlled by 

foresters to provide benefits to a natural area. 

Every spring and summer, wildland fires 

are in the news. These news reports are 

usually about wildfires. Wildfires are large 

uncontrolled fires that could have been started 

by lightning or by careless people. Contrary 

to what you might think when you hear those 

reports, wildfires are not always a bad thing 

for a natural ecosystem. When wildland fires 

burn close to homes or businesses, or burn 

out of control, they become news because 

of the damage they might do to people, 

farms, livestock, or buildings. Some trees and 

animals, however, need occasional fire to 

survive. Wildland fires are a necessary part of 

some ecosystems. They have been the reason 

those ecosystems have survived.

In this edition of the Natural Inquirer, you 

will learn about the history of wildland fire in 

America. You will learn about the Big Blowup. 

You will learn that wildland fire is not simply 

bad or good. You will learn how foresters 

work to enhance the benefits and reduce the 

dangers of wildland fires. In this edition, you 

will read about some plants and animals that 

must experience occasional fire to survive. 

In 2010, a century has passed since the Big 

Blowup. This Natural Inquirer was created 

so that you can learn about wildland fire 

and what scientists are discovering about it. 

Hopefully, the next time you hear about a 

wildland fire in the news, you will pay close 

attention to the story. You will remember how 

foresters work to protect people and buildings 

from wildfires, how they reduce the chance 

and impact of wildfires, and how they work to 

increase the benefits that society gains from 

occasional wildland fire.

Photo courtesy of Forest Service Northern Region Archives.

The fires of 1910 destroyed large 

areas of forest land.
5

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Almost 50 years after 

the Big Blowup, the Forest 

Service took action to better 

understand wildland fire’s 

benefits, its dangers, and 

how fire should be managed. 

In 1959, the first laboratory 

devoted to forest fire research 

was opened in Macon, 

Georgia. The following 

year, the Forest Service 

established the Missoula, 

Montana, Fire Laboratory. 

In 1963, the agency opened 

the Pacific Southwest 

Forest Fire Laboratory in 

Riverside, California. The 

newest wildland fire research 

laboratory was opened in 

Seattle, Washington, in 2003. 

This lab, however, had been 

the home of fire research since 

1973. In Madison, Wisconsin, 

scientists working at the 

Forest Products Laboratory 

search for better ways to 

protect wood products from 

fire damage. 

The scientists who work at these 

laboratories have contributed much to our 

understanding of wildland fire. They are 

helping Americans to understand that fire 

is a necessary and beneficial part of many 

ecosystems. They are developing better ways 

to protect people, homes, and businesses 

from wildland fire. They are improving the 

way we manage natural areas that may 

experience wildland fire. The research you 

will read about in this edition of the Natural 

Inquirer is just a small example of the many 

topics Forest Service scientists study to 

improve our understanding of wildland fire.

An experiment at the Missoula, Montana, Fire Sciences 

Laboratory investigates how fire spreads. This fuel bed 

was composed of shredded wood hanging on wire stands. 

Fire could spread from one row of stands to the next only 

if flames contacted the shredded wood in the next row. 

Where the gaps between rows were too wide, the fire 

could not spread. Results like these provide clues about the 

importance of heat in how fires spread.

Fire Research in the Forest Service
6

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Fight or Light? 

The History and Impact 

of the Big Fires of 1910 

Photo courtesy of Forest Service Northern Region Archives.
7

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Meet the Scientist

Dr. Stephen Pyne, Historian: My favorite 

science experience was the time I spent a 

season in Antarctica with groups of people 

studying ice.

Thinking About 

Science

There are many different 

ways to discover new 

information. A historian is an 

individual who does research 

and writes about human events 

that happened in the past. The research and 

writings of historians provide important benefits 

to society. They tell stories from the past 

that help society to understand how people, 

groups of people, or organizations came to be 

as they are. History also helps society to learn 

from the mistakes and successes of the past. 

Often, historians collect information from many 

different places to tell a story. If possible, they 

interview people who were involved in the 

historic events.

Human history can be told at many levels. 

You, as an individual, have your own history. 

You have a family history, and your community 

has a history. Your race has a history, and your 

country has a history. The history of just about 

anything can be studied. What is your favorite 

type of music? It has a history as well. The 

research you will read about in this article was 

conducted by a historian who was interested in 

the history of wildland fire in America.

Thinking About the Environment

In the early years of the 20th century, the Western United States was still being 

settled by Europeans. Forests were cleared for railroads, mining, agriculture, and the 

towns where people lived. Much more land, however, remained as wild forests. As 

more people moved near or into these wild forests, the question of how to manage 

wildfires became more important. Wildfires are large uncontrolled wildland fires 

that are started by lightning or by people’s careless actions.

In the early 1900s, some people thought that purposefully setting and controlling 

small fires every few years was the best way to keep any wildfires from getting out of 

control. Other people felt that the best way to manage wildfires was to prevent them from starting. 

These people also felt that any fire that started should be put out as quickly as possible. In this 

article, you will learn about wildfires that burned over 2 days in 1910. You will learn about the effect 

these wildfires had on how society viewed wildfires throughout the 20th century. One hundred 

years later, the wildfires of 1910 still affect American society.

Dr. Pyne as a young smoke chaser 

(wildland firefighter).
8

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Figure 1. Idaho, 1910. Large areas of forest land 

were burned in the 1910 fires. This photograph 

was taken during one of the 1910 fires. Photo 

by H. English. Photo courtesy of Forest Service 

Northern Region Archives.

Introduction

In the early 1900s, U.S. citizens became 

more aware of the materials that could be 

provided by forest lands in the West. These 

materials included timber for building homes, 

metals from mining, and water for irrigation 

of crops. Citizens also became aware of the 

importance of saving some of these lands for 

everyone’s use. Around this time, national parks 

and forest reserves were created. 

In 1905, the Forest Service was established to 

manage the forest reserves, which then became 

the national forests. As the manager of these 

large areas of forests, the Forest Service realized 

it had a big job to do. In particular, it had to 

figure out how best to manage wildfires. When 

fires burned the forests, there was less wood 

available for building homes and businesses. In 

addition, a growing human population became 

more concerned for its own safety.

As more people settled the West, therefore, 

the potential harm to people from wildfires 

became more important. As with most things, 

everyone did not agree on the best approach 

to manage wildfires. The people in the Forest 

Service believed that fires should be prevented. 

They also believed that any fire should be 

put out as soon as possible. Other people 

believed that fire itself could be used as a tool 

to manage wildfires. These people pointed to 

the American Indians’ practice of starting and 

controlling small fires as a way of preventing 

large uncontrolled wildfires.

On August 20 and 21, 1910, a combination of 

dry weather, high winds, sparks from lightning, 

locomotives, and human carelessness caused 

a large number of wildfires to ignite in Idaho 

and Montana (figures 1 and 2). Eighty-five 

people died, and 78 of them were firefighters. 

Following these fires, the Forest Service 

became even more determined to prevent or 

extinguish all wildland fires. This is a policy 

called fire suppression.

The fire suppression policy remained in effect 

for decades. In the late 1960s, research began 

to show the beneficial effects of wildland fire. 

The public’s attitudes toward public lands were 

also changing. People began to favor parks and 

wilderness over using the forests for timber and 

other products. At the same time, the harmful 

effects and high costs of fire suppression 

became more apparent. Slowly, the Forest 

Service began to change the way it managed 

wildland fires. 

The historian in this study was interested in 

understanding the impact of the 1910 fires on 

fire policy and American society. He wanted 

to know why the wildfires that burned over 

those 2 days were so powerful. They influenced 

public opinion and fire policy for most of the 

next century. Their influence was felt even 

after it became clear that fire suppression was 

not the best policy. The fires of 1910 continue 

to influence Americans today, even if people 

are not aware of it. The historian in this study 

wanted to better understand the story and 

impact of the 1910 fires.
9

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 2. The area of Idaho and Montana where the fires burned.

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany years has it been since the

wildfires burned in 1910?

Reflection Section

b	 Whatwere the questions the historian

wanted to explore? 

b	 Howdo you think the historian explored his

questions?

Different forests burn in different ways. In 

some forests, fires burn along the surface 

of the ground. In other forests, fires tend to 

burn in the tree canopy. The tree canopy is the 

leafy area at the tops of trees. Fires that burn 

along the surface of the ground are more easily 

controlled. Foresters can purposely set this kind 

of fire and use it as a tool.

Small controlled fires burn away much of 

the understory, but leave large trees standing.

This is because large trees are resistant to 

small fires. The burned vegetation provides 

nutrients to the soil. It also prevents small 

trees from growing up and competing with 

larger trees. These smaller trees, once they 

are burned, are no longer fuel for a larger 

wildfire. If a wildfire begins to burn, there will 

be little fuel left to burn near the ground, and 

the wildfire will burn out, or can be put out, 

much more quickly.

Using Fire as a Tool
10

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Methods

The historian did this research in two ways. 

Both ways involved traveling to the areas 

of Idaho and Montana where the wildfires 

occurred. The historian visited places of 

importance to the wildfires, such as the tunnel 

where firefighters sought shelter from one of 

the fires (figure 3). Had survivors still been 

alive, he could have talked to people who 

had lived through the fires. Instead, he also 

visited the libraries, offices, and museums that 

keep newspaper articles, letters, documents, 

photographs, and other written or photographic 

material about the wildfires. This even included 

a trip to Washington, DC, to read Government 

documents about the fires and Forest Service 

fire policy, and to examine old photographs 

(figure 4). 

The historian made copies of as much 

information about the fires as possible. He took 

notes and recorded his notes on a computer. 

He then sorted his notes by categories, such 

as date, individual, and event. Then, he placed 

related events in the order that they happened 

to create a timeline. He included information 

about events that happened before and after 

the big fires of 1910.

Then, the historian began to write the story 

of what happened in the years before 1910, 

during each month of the year of 1910, during 

the 2 days of the biggest fires, and after 1910. 

Figure 3. The Nickolson mine shaft. This mine 

shaft is also called the Pulaski Tunnel, named 

after the man who saved most of his fire crew on 

August 20, 1910. Ed Pulaski had led his men into 

the mine, then forced them to stay by threatening 

to shoot anyone who tried to leave. Most of the 

men survived the fire, which had burned to the 

entrance of the mine. Photo courtesy of Forest 

Service Northern Region Archives.

Reflection Section

b	 Look atthe photographs in figures 3 and 4.What are some ofthe advantages of having

photographs if you are a historian? 

b Historiansmustwrite history as accurately as possible. A story of historicalfiction mustbe

clearly identified.Why should stories of historicalfiction be clearly identifiedas such? 

Figure 4. Lolo National Forest, Montana, 1910.

View from the Northern Pacific Railway grade 

between Borax and Lookout, taken after the 

1910 fires. Photo taken by R.H. McKay.

Photo courtesy of Forest Service Northern 

Region Archives.
11

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Findings

The foresters who managed the national 

forests in the early 1900s believed that all fire 

was bad. They believed that the best thing to 

do was to keep fires from burning and put out 

any fires as quickly as possible. The historian 

discovered, however, that many things in 1910 

were beyond the control of the foresters.

The historian found that there were many 

reasons the fires were so large and numerous 

on August 20 and 21, 1910. The weather had 

been dry all spring and summer. On those 2 

days, strong winds began to blow. Locomotives 

with faulty brakes sent sparks out along the 

railroad tracks. Trees had been cut down to 

make room for the tracks. The areas beside the 

tracks contained dry brush that readily ignited 

and flames were spread by the winds. Lightning 

and human carelessness with campfires also 

contributed to the many fires ignited.

On August 24, the winds stopped and it 

began to rain and snow in the area. Some towns 

had been burned to the ground, and large areas 

of Idaho and Montana forests were destroyed. 

Eighty five people died on August 20 and 21. 

Once the crisis had passed, the foresters became 

even more determined not to let fires burn. The 

public, who witnessed the destruction or heard 

about it in newspapers, agreed.

Discussion

The historian put some thought into what his 

work means for today. He noted that weather 

is still important to the start and spread of 

wildfires, just as it was in 1910. As humans burn 

Reflection Section

b	 Before reading this article, did you think allwildfires should be put out?Howdo you think your

opinions aboutwildfires have been influenced by hearing aboutwildfires in the news?Howis the

shaping of your opinion similarto the reaction to thewildfires of1910? Howis it different?

b	 Describe anotherinstancewhere learningaboutthepast canhelpmakedecisions aboutthe future.

In the middle of the 20th century, Forest 

Service scientists began to learn new things 

about the role of fire. They began to discover 

that fire can be used as a tool to prevent large 

wildfires. They also learned that fire can have 

benefits in some ecosystems.

Slowly, the Forest Service began to change 

its mind about how best to manage fires. The 

agency adopted a mixture of approaches. Some 

fires needed to be controlled, and some needed 

to be set. Near the end of the 20th century, fire 

suppression was no longer seen as the best way 

to prevent large fires. Forest managers now 

realize that the use of small controlled fires, 

called prescribed fire, is a way to restore the 

fires we want and that nature needs. It is also 

a way to prevent the fires we do not want and 

that do damage.

Reflection Section

b	 What one thing is still out ofthe

control of people in regard towildfires?

b Howhas research helped foresters to do a

betterjob ofmanaging fire?

more fossil fuels, they may be causing a change 

in long-term weather patterns. As the climate

changes, humans may be creating better 

conditions for large wildfires. People should 

carefully consider and learn from the past.
12

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Glossary

Climate (ˈklī-mət): The average condition of 

the weather over large areas, over a long time, 

or both.

Ecosystem (ē-kō-sis-təm): Community of plant 

and animal species interacting with one another 

and with the nonliving environment.

Extinguish (ik-ˈstiŋ-(g)wish): To bring to an end.

Fiction (ˈfik-shən): An invented story.

Fossil fuel (ˈfä-səl ˈfyü(-ə)l): Fuel, such as coal, 

petroleum, or natural gas, formed from the 

fossilized remains of plants and animals.

Ignite (ig-ˈnīt): To cause to burn.

FACTivity

Time Needed:

One class period or homework

The question to be answered in this 

FACTivity is: What was the impact of a 

recent natural disturbance on a community, 

a region, or the world? Natural disturbances 

are events such as fires, floods, 

earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.

The procedure to use to answer this 

question is:

Discuss the story of the 1910 fires with 

the rest of the class after you have all read 

the article. In particular, discuss the impact 

the fires had on Forest Service fire policy 

and on public attitudes toward wildland fires.

Adapted from: Pyne, S.J. 2008. Year of the fires: The story of the great fires of 1910. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company.

Prescribed fire (pri-ˈskrībd ˈfi(-ə)r ): The 

controlled application of fire to wildland fuels 

under certain weather conditions as a forest 

management tool.

Resistant (ri-ˈzist-tənt): The condition of being 

able to withstand the force or effect of.

Suppression (sə-ˈpre-shən): To inhibit the 

growth or development of.

Understory (ˈən-dər-ˌstȯr-ē): The vegetation 

between the forest canopy (the area with leaves) 

and the ground cover.

Accented syllables are in bold. Marks taken from 

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Guide.

As a class, identify a natural disturbance 

that has been in the news in the past year.

Collect information about the event and its 

impact using the library and Internet. You 

should also record your own recollection 

of the event. How did you learn of the 

event? How did you feel about it? Were 

you or someone you know directly 

affected by the event? Collect photographs 

as well.

Write a story about the event and its 

impact, including photographs. Your 

teacher will have you share your stories 

with the class or in small groups.
13

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

FACTivity Extension

After you and your classmates have 

shared your stories, your teacher will 

hold a class discussion comparing and 

contrasting your stories with the story 

of the 1910 fires. How are the natural 

disturbances similar and different? How 

do the impacts compare? Do you think 

the impact of the recent event will last 

as long as the impact of the 1910 fires? 

Why or why not?

Teachers: If you are a PLTtrained teacher, you may use 

Activity #86, “Our Changing 

World,” #89 “Trees for Many 

Reasons,” and #81, “Living 

with Fire,” as additional 

resources.

Additional Web 

Resources

1910 Fire Commemoration Information Site 

(includes good photographs and eyewitness 

accounts)

http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/1910-centennial/index.html

The Great 1910 Fire (includes good photographs)

http://www.1910fire.com/

Idaho Forest Products Commission: The 1910 Fires

http://www.idahoforests.org/fires.htm

National Science 

Education Standards

Science as Inquiry:

 Abilities Necessary To Do Scientific Inquiry;

 Understanding About Scientific Inquiry 

Life Science:

 Structure and Function in Living Systems; 

 Populations and Ecosystems 

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: 

 Populations, Resources, and Environments; 

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risk and Benefits; 

 Science and Technology in Society 

Science and Technology: 

 Understanding About Science and Technology 

History and Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science 

13
14

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

What Happens to Arthropods 

Following a Wildland Fire?

Photo by Susan Ellis, http://Bugwood.org. 

aPods 

Rule! 
15

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Meet the Scientists

Dr. Jim Hanula, Entomologist 

(ˌen-tə-ˈmä-lə-jist): My favorite experience as 

a scientist was discovering a new species.

I was working on Japanese beetles at the 

time and kept finding larvae infected with a 

fungus. Other people had seen the fungus 

in the past but didn’t realize it was a new 

species. When my co-worker and I looked 

at it closely (really closely) with an electron 

microscope we found out it was a new 

genus and a new 

species of fungus.

I had the chance 

to name them and 

describe both.

Dr. Joe O’Brien, 

Ecologist: When 

I was a graduate 

student, I studied 

the rain forest in 

Costa Rica. I was 

studying how 

climate influenced 

tree growth.

Sometimes, I had to take measurements 

of leaves in the forest canopy. Using a 

crossbow, I would send a rope into the 

top of a tree. Then, with my instruments, I 

would climb 150 feet up the rope to the tree 

canopy. At the forest floor, only 3 percent of 

sunlight comes through. It is dark and gloomy 

there. I would slowly inch my way up into the 

bright, sunny, breezy 

canopy. I could see 

all kinds of wildlife up 

close. I saw toucans, 

parrots, monkeys, and 

butterflies. When I was 

finished, it was fun to 

rappel back down.

Thinking About Science

Before they do a study, scientists sometimes state a hypothesis. A hypothesis 

is a statement of an observation, usually about the relationship of one thing to 

another. A hypothesis can provide the basis for a scientific study, in which the 

observation is examined to determine if it is true or false. 

Scientists usually state their hypothesis as what is called a null hypothesis. 

A null hypothesis states that there is no relationship between two or more variables being 

studied. After they do their study, scientists determine whether the null hypothesis is true 

or false. If it is false, it means a relationship appears to exist between two or more variables. 

Think of a time that you observed something about the relationship of two things. For 

example, if the sky is dark and cloudy, you might think it will rain. What would be the null 

hypothesis in this case?

Dr. Susan Loeb, Research 

Ecologist: My favorite science 

experience is observing animals 

in their natural environment, 

whether they are small 

mammals, bats, or chimpanzees.

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Thinking 

About the 

Environment

Have you ever turned over 

an old log in the woods? If you 

have, you know that many small 

creatures live in and around these logs. Many of 

these creatures are arthropods (ˈär-thrə-ˌpädz). 

Over 80 percent of all known animal species are 

arthropods, a group that includes insects, spiders, 

scorpions, ticks, mites, centipedes, and millipedes. 

In the ocean, arthropods include crabs, shrimps, 

and lobsters. Scientists have identified over 

1,170,000 species of arthropods. Many more will 

probably be discovered over time.

Arthropods provide many ecosystem 

services to people. These services include 

pollination, food, decomposition, insect 

control, and beauty. Can you imagine what 

would happen if insects didn’t help decompose 

dead animals and plants? It would be gross! 

Some arthropods bite or sting if they think 

people or other animals are trying to hurt them 

or their nests. For example, bees and scorpions 

can sting, and sometimes people get sick from 

some arthropod bites like mosquitoes or tick 

bites if they are carrying a disease. 

The scientists in this study investigated one 

kind of arthropod. This type of arthropod lives 

among leaf litter on the forest floor. The 

scientists wanted to discover what happens to 

arthropods living among leaf litter after a forest 

fire moves through the area.

Introduction

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) (pī-nis pə-lus-trəs) 

once could be found from southeastern Virginia 

to eastern Texas (figures 1 and 2). This was 

an area covering 90 million acres or almost 82 

million football fields. 

Figures 1a and 1b. How do you think 

longleaf pine got its name? Photo by 

Rebekah D. Wallace, courtesy of http://

Bugwood.org (1a) and David Stephens, 

courtesy of http://Bugwood.org (1b)
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 2a. Longleaf pine forests once 

covered much of the Southeast.

Map courtesy of Southern Regional 

Extension Forestry.

Figure 2b. The current range of the longleaf 

pine forests in the Southeast. Compare this 

with figure 2a.

Figure 3. A young longleaf pine in what is 

called its grass stage. Longleaf pines can 

remain in this stage for the first 5 to 12 years 

of their life. Photo by Rebekah D. Wallace, 

courtesy of http://Bugwood.org.

Longleaf pines are not usually killed by 

fire. Because these pines need open spaces to 

survive, fire is a good thing for longleaf pines. 

Purposely set and controlled fires keep other 

plants and trees small, leaving more space for 

longleaf pines to grow. Even when longleaf pines 

are young, they can survive fires (figure 3). 

When old longleaf trees die and fall, the logs are 

also able to survive forest fires.

Over many years, much of the longleaf pine 

forests were cut for lumber. Since longleaf pine 

was hard to grow in nurseries for replanting 

and it grows slower than some other pines, 

longleaf pine was often replaced with those 

other pines. Also, because wildfires caused so 

much damage, forest managers tried to stop all 

fires because they wanted to protect the new 

forests. Land where longleaf pine grew was also 

used for other things like farming. These actions 

reduced the area where longleaf pine forests 

can still be found to about 5 percent of the area 

in figure 2a (see figure 2b). 

Number Crunches

b	 About howmany acres oflongleaf pine

forest existtoday? To findout,multiply

90,000,000acres by0.05.

Source: Forest Service Forest 

Inventory and Analysis
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Figure 4a. A forest manager igniting a 

controlled fire. Permits are required for 

controlled burning. To prevent fire hazards, 

authorized personnel should be involved 

with the process.

Figure 4b. A forest manager on a boom 

lift recording fire intensity. Forest managers 

record fire intensity using different devices.

Now, however, many people are concerned 

about longleaf pine forests. In many areas, 

these forests are being managed to help them 

survive and grow. Fire is a necessary part of 

this process. Forest managers, therefore, set 

planned fires every few years in longleaf pine 

forests (figures 4a and 4b). These fires are 

tightly controlled so that they do not escape 

from the longleaf pine forest.

One reason for these controlled fires is to 

remove the leaf litter on the forest floor so 

that uncontrolled fires or wildfires will be less 

likely to happen. Remember, however, that 

the old logs do not readily burn. The scientists 

in this study were interested in what happens 

to arthropods after a fire. They developed a 

hypothesis about the importance of old logs 

lying on the forest floor to leaf-litter-dwelling 

arthropods. The scientists thought that after a 

fire, arthropods living among leaf litter would 

move to the areas around old logs because they 

didn’t have other places to hide. They stated 

their hypothesis as a null hypothesis.

Reflection Section

b	 State the null hypothesis used by the scientists.(See “Thinking About Science” for a hint.)

b Is fire a good thing forlongleaf pine forests?Howdo you know?
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 5. The Osceola National Forest is in 

northern Florida.

Figure 6a. The scientists divided the larger 

area into 24 smaller areas.

Figure 7. Logs were placed in the center of 

each area.

Six areas were 

burned every year

Six areas were 

burned every 

other year

Six areas were 

burned every 

4th year

Six areas were 

not burned at all

Figure 6b. This area was burned every 

other year.

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany acres largewas each ofthe 24

areas? To findout,multiply0.8 by 2.47.

Methods

The scientists studied an area in the Osceola 

(ä-sē-ˈō-lə) National Forest in Florida (figure 5). 

The scientists divided the area into 24 separate 

areas (figures 6a and 6b). Each of these areas 

was 0.8 hectare in size.

In each of the 24 areas, the scientists placed 

a longleaf pine log in the center. Each log was 

three meters long. They placed four pitfall traps 

around each log. Pitfall traps are cups placed 

into the ground. An arthropod walking nearby 

may fall into the trap. The scientists placed a 

pitfall trap near each end of the log on both 

sides (figure 7).
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Findings

The scientists caught more leaf-litterdwelling arthropods in traps near the drift 

fences than they did in traps near the logs. 

When they compared the sites that had been 

burned at different frequencies (see figure 

6a), they found no difference in the number 

of arthropods captured. The scientists found 

no evidence to support the idea that leaf-litterdwelling arthropods move close to logs after fire 

burns through an area.

Then, the scientists located an area 10 

meters away from each log. They placed a solid 

aluminum fence, three meters long and about 

20 cm high (to arthropods that is high) in this 

area (figure 8). They placed four pitfall traps 

around each fence, in the same positions as 

traps were placed around the log. The scientists 

used the fence because they were concerned 

that they might catch more arthropods around 

the logs simply because the logs acted like a 

fence. The fence would help direct any nearby 

arthropods into the traps. By using a fence the 

same length as the logs they could find out if 

the arthropods liked the logs because they were 

better places to hide or find food. 

The scientists used the pitfall traps for 

6 months every year. They collected any 

arthropods caught in the traps. They identified 

the arthropod species and counted each one. 

They collected arthropods in the pitfall traps 

from 1994 to 2000.

The scientists compared the number of leaflitter-dwelling arthropods captured near the 

log and near the drift fence for each of the four 

types of areas (see figure 6a).

Reflection Section

b	 Why did the scientists include areas thatwere

not burned at all?

b	 Why did the scientistswantto collect arthropods nearthe log and away fromthe log?

Reflection Section

b	 Do youthink the scientists acceptedorrejected

theirnullhypothesis?Why orwhynot?

b	 Do you think this study proves thatleaflitter-dwellingarthropods do not use logs as

habitat after a fire?Why orwhy not?

Reflection Section

b	 Is itimportantto understandwhat happens to

arthropods following a fire?Why orwhy not?

b	 What are some advantages of being surprised

at yourfindings?

Discussion

The scientists were surprised at their 

findings. They considered other reasons that 

fewer arthropods than expected were trapped 

near logs. One reason may be that drift fences, 

since they are hard to crawl over, are better at 

directing arthropods into the traps. Arthropods 

near logs, in contrast, may dig under or climb 

over logs, thus finding other routes away from 

the traps. Another explanation may be that fire, 

regardless of how often it comes to a longleaf 

pine forest, does not cause leaf-litter-dwelling 

arthropods to seek logs as habitat. 

Figure 8. Drift fences, which are fences 

placed to direct animals into pitfall traps, 

were placed 10 meters away from the log.
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

This article was adapted from Hanula, J.L.; Wade, D.D.; O’Brien, J.; and Loeb, S.C. 2009. Ground-dwelling arthropod association with coarse woody debris 

following long-term dormant season prescribed burning in the longleaf pine Flatwoods of north Florida. Florida Entomologist. 92(2): 229–242. 

http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/jahanula017.pdf.

Glossary

Canopy (ˈka-nə-pē): Anything that covers like a 

roof. On a tree, the area of leaves that cover the 

ground.

Crossbow (ˈkrȯs ˌbō): A tool used for shooting 

stones that consists of a short bow mounted on 

the end of a wooden stock.

Decomposition ((ˌ)dē-ˌkäm-pə-ˈzi-shən): The 

act or process of breaking up, as by decaying or 

rotting.

Ecosystem services (ē-kō-sis-təm ˈsər-vəs): 

Any of the various benefits provided by plants, 

animals, and the communities they form.

Habitat (ˈha-bə-ˌtat): Environment where a plant 

or animal naturally grows and lives.

The question you will answer in 

this FACTivity is: What are the key 

characteristics of arthropods? You will 

create your own aPod based on the 

characteristics of arthropods and describe 

the creature’s life history.

Time:

One class period

Materials: 

Pieces of white construction paper for 

each student and markers or crayons

Your teacher will provide the following 

background to the students (or students 

may read it on their own): Arthropods are 

invertebrate (without a backbone) animals of 

the phylum Arthropoda. All arthropods have 

the following characteristics: 

FACTivity

Leaf litter (ˈlēf ˈli-tər): The decaying leaf 

material on the surface of the forest floor.

Rappel (rə-ˈpel): To descend by sliding down a 

rope, usually outfitted with a special device to 

create friction.

Species (ˈspē-(ˌ)shēz): Groups of organisms that 

resemble one another in appearance, behavior, 

chemical processes, and genetic structure.

Variable (ˈver-ē-ə-bəl): Thing that can vary in 

number or amount.

Accented syllables are in bold. Marks taken from 

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Guide.

1. Invertebrate

2. A hard outer body covering called an 

exoskeleton

3. Specialized mouth parts 

4. Jointed legs 

5. Compound Eyes 

6. Segmented body 

Arthropods include insects, crustaceans 

(lobsters, crabs, shrimp, crayfish), millipedes, 

centipedes, horseshoe crabs, arachnids 

(spiders, ticks, and mites) and sea spiders.

Together, arthropods comprise the largest 

and most varied group of invertebrate on 

Earth.
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Figure 9. Emerald Ash Borer’s 

compound eyes. Photo by Ken 

Walker, Museum Victoria Pest and 

Diseases Image Library, Australia, 

courtesy of http://Bugwood.org 

Figure 10. Check out the segmented 

body on the Walking Cicada. Photo 

by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado 

State University, courtesy of http://

Bugwood.org

The bodies of arthropods are divided 

into different segments, each having 

a specialized role. The segments have 

numerous paired, jointed appendages 

(legs, antennae, claws, and external mouth 

parts) that serve many varied functions.

The exoskeleton acts as a protective 

covering to the underlying segmented 

body. It also provides an attachment 

for muscles and a barrier to water loss 

for animals living on land. It is made 

mostly of chitin (ˈkī-tən), a rigid, complex 

carbohydrate, and is usually covered by a 

hardened, waxy cuticle. The cuticle acts 

as a hinge between segments, allowing 

the body to bend and move to the right 

or left. Periodically, the rigid exoskeleton 

is shed in a process called molting. The 

temporarily soft animal then swells in size, 

and its new, larger exoskeleton hardens.

Figure 11. Check out the jointed legs on 

this Leaffooted Pine Seed Bug. Photo 

by Larry R. Barber, Forest Service, 

courtesy of http://Bugwood.org
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 13. Check out the Chaco golden 

knee tarantula’s specialized fangs! Photo by 

David Cappaert, Michigan State University, 

courtesy of http://Bugwood.org

The mandibulates have one or two pairs 

of appendages that function as antennae on 

their head, with the next pair modified as 

jaws for feeding. Included in this group are 

the crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, crayfish), the 

millipedes and centipedes, and the insects.

Arthropods are so diverse and come 

in so many different shapes and sizes 

and specialized features! You now get to 

create your own aPod by thinking about the 

characteristics that all arthropods share and 

making your own creature.

Figure 12. Check out this 

bizarre Walkingstick. Photo by 

Herbert A. “Joe” Pase III, Texas 

Forest Service, courtesy of 

http://Bugwood.org

Arthropods are divided into chelicerates 

(kə-lis-ə-rāts), meaning “claw-horned 

ones,” and mandibulates (ˈman-də-bəlləts), meaning “jawed ones.” The bodies of 

chelicerates are divided into two parts: a 

fused head and thorax, and an abdomen.

They have no antennae, and most have 

four pairs of jointed legs. They are named 

for their first pair of appendages, which 

are modified as clawlike fangs used for 

feeding. The chelicerates include the 

arachnids, the marine horseshoe crabs, 

and the sea spiders.
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•	 Use a piece of paper and

markers or crayons.

•	 Review and reflect on the

characteristics that all arthropods 

have in common.

•	 Design your own aPod.

Once the aPod is finished, write at 

least two paragraphs about your aPod’s 

life history. Where does the aPod live? 

What does it eat? How does it move 

about (fly, crawl, jump, etc.) Be creative 

and have fun! 

Teachers:

If you are a Project Learning 

Tree-trained educator, 

you may use Activity 

#80, “Nothing Succeeds 

Like Succession” or #24, 

“Nature’s Recyclers,” as 

additional resources.

National Science 

Standards

Science as Inquiry:

 Abilities Necessary To Do Scientific Inquiry;

 Understanding About Scientific Inquiry

Life Science: 

 Structure and Function in Living Systems; 

 Regulation and Behavior; 

 Populations and Ecosystems; 

 Diversity and Adaptations of Organisms

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: 

 Populations, Resources, and Environments; 

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risk and Benefits

History and Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science

Additional Web 

Resources

National Science and Technology Center: Soil 

Arthropods

http://www.blm.gov/nstc/soil/arthropods/index.html
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

How Federal Wildfire Policy Is 

Implemented at the Local Level

Photo courtesy of Forest Service, Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest. 

Keeping 

It Local: 
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Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Meet the Scientists

Ms. Stephanie Grayzeck-Souter, Social 

Scientist: My favorite science experience 

was spending a month in the tropical 

rainforest of Ecuador. I learned about 

tropical field biology while also exploring 

and experiencing cultures very different 

from my own. This picture was taken on 

the banks of the Napo River, a tributary 

of the Amazon.

Dr. Kristen Nelson, 

Environmental 

Sociologist: My 

favorite science 

experience was 

working with Mayan 

(ˈmī-ən) farmers and scientists to 

solve problems in Chiapas (chē-ˈä-päs), 

Mexico. We worked on many different 

projects. In one community, we worked 

on projects with trees to reduce global 

warming. In other communities, we 

discovered how to provide good soil 

for growing coffee. We also discovered 

how to provide habitat for migratory 

birds. Migratory birds move from place 

to place for breeding or feeding. As 

you can see, there were many different 

problems to solve!

26

Thinking About Science

Social scientists study what people think, do, and believe. One way they 

discover this is to conduct interviews with the people about what they want to 

learn. Interviews are like conversations, except that the scientists try to guide the 

conversation so they find out specific information. They ask questions that can be 

well defined or that can be open-ended. A well-defined question might be: “How 

many brothers and sisters do you have?” An open-ended question asks something 

general. An example of an open-ended question is: “Tell me about the first time you fell off of your 

bicycle and got hurt.” 

The scientists try not to share any of their own opinions. In a good interview, the scientist rarely 

says much except to ask for more information. By interviewing different people using the same 

questions, scientists can learn about all the different ways in which people think about a topic.

Interviews are usually recorded. Later, while listening to the recording, the scientist types the 

interview, word for word. Then, the scientist organizes and summarizes what was said. Interviews 

can be done in person, over the phone, or even on the Internet. In this study, the scientists 

interviewed people in four towns in the Eastern United States.

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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Dr. Daniel Williams, Research 

Social Scientist: My favorite science 

experience is getting paid to visit some 

of the most beautiful places on earth as 

part of fieldwork. This is a photograph 

of me backpacking in the Sierra Nevada 

Mountains. Photo by Mike Patterson.

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Thinking 

About the 

Environment

Some people live in or near 

large areas of forests. Often, 

people build homes near the 

edges of State or Federal public land. State 

lands include State parks and forests. Federal 

lands include national parks and national forests. 

When people build close to or within large areas 

of forest, they raise the chance of having their 

homes damaged or destroyed by wildfire. They 

also increase the chance that a fire will burn into 

the forest, as most forest fires in the East are 

started by people. 

The Federal Government has defined 

communities that occupy land near or within 

these large natural areas as the wildland 

urban interface, or WUI. The WUI is an 

area where houses either meet or mix with 

wildland vegetation, including forests, prairies, 

or other natural areas. To help protect these 

communities from wildfires, the Federal 

Government has encouraged people living in 

the WUI to plan for wildfires. The Government 

wants people in these communities to think 

about ways to discourage wildfires and what 

they can do to protect their homes if a wildfire 

burns in their community.

Dr. Pamela Jakes, Research Forester: 

My favorite science experience was living 

in New Zealand for 6 months. While I was 

there I worked with scientists to discover 

what people living in New Zealand can do 

to reduce their wildfire risks. What I learned 

in New Zealand has helped me work with 

communities in the United States so that 

they can adapt to living with wildfire. This is 

a photograph of me in New Zealand.

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Introduction

In the past, forest managers always put 

out wildfires. More recently, forest managers 

have discovered that fire can be a good thing 

for some ecosystems. Wildfires are now 

sometimes allowed to burn rather than always 

be put out. When a wildfire is threatening 

human communities, however, it is put out. 

Forest managers have added new strategies to 

help communities deal with wildfires. 

The first strategy is to reduce fuel so if a 

wildfire threatens a community it has nothing to 

burn. Forest managers reduce fuels in two main 

ways. First, they might purposely burn small 

areas of land in a controlled manner to remove 

the fuel (figure 1). These fires burn cooler than 

wildfires, and only burn near the ground. Forest 

managers only start these controlled fires if the 

weather will help them manage the fire. 

If a wildfire occurs in these areas, there is less 

material to burn, and the wildfire can be controlled 

or put out more easily. Forest managers may also 

use machines to cut and remove the brush and 

other vegetation (figure 2). Another strategy 

used to control the damage from wildfires is 

to help homeowners protect their home and 

property from fires. For example, people are 

urged to remove trees and other plants that 

burn easily that are touching their home. 

In 2003, the Federal Government made 

it easier for WUI communities to protect 

themselves from wildfire (See “Thinking 

About the Environment”). If a WUI 

community prepares a Community Wildfire 

Protection Plan, the Federal Government will 

work with the community to reduce wildfires 

on everyone’s property. In addition, in a 

Community Wildfire Protection Plan, local 

communities can have a say in how wildfires 

are managed on nearby public lands. 

The Federal Government also urged WUI 

communities to describe their own WUI and 

draw boundaries that identify where their 

WUI is located. This area represents the 

land that the community values and wants to 

protect from wildfire. 

If communities can agree on the definition 

and location of the WUI, they can more easily 

agree on the best way to reduce their risk 

from wildfires. Past research has shown that 

communities who do this are better prepared 

for wildfires. The WUI also shows public land 

managers where the community would like 

them to work to reduce wildfire risk.

Figure 1. A controlled fire. Photo by Terry 

Tompkins, courtesy of Forest Service 

Northern Region Archives.

Figure 2. Residents remove hazardous fuels 

during a Windcliff Work Day near Estes Park, 

Colorado. Photo by Bud Durya.
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 4. The number of people interviewed 

in each community.

When the Federal Government passed the 

law to encourage communities to develop a 

Community Wildfire Protection Plan, they 

thought that communities would want to define 

and locate their WUI so they could show the 

area they wanted protected from wildfire. But 

many communities do not do this. The scientists 

wanted to learn about the communities that 

made the WUI part of their plan.

Reflection Section

b	 Statewhatthe scientistswanted to

knowin the formof a question.

b	 Howdo you think the scientists

answered their question?

Reflection Section

b	 Acasestudyisadetailedlookatoneindividual,

onegroup,oroneevent.Thinkabout something

youhavestudiedrecently.Howmightyou

extendyourexaminationbydoingacase

study?Whoorwhatwouldyoustudy?

b Whywas itimportantforthe scientists

to interviewa variety of people in the

community?

Figure 3. The four communities were located 

across the Eastern United States.

Methods

The scientists decided to do four case 

studies. A case study is a detailed examination 

of one example. Social scientists might study 

one individual, one group, or one event. The 

scientists identified four WUI communities 

in the Eastern United States (figure 3).

They traveled to each of these communities 

and interviewed people. The people they 

interviewed were all involved in the preparation 

of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. 

They included people working in fire 

departments and local governments, forest 

managers, and homeowners.

The scientists interviewed 58 people in the 

4 communities (figure 4). They recorded each 

interview. Later, they typed each interview 

word for word. One of the scientists organized 

and summarized all of the interviews.

Community name

Number 

of people 

interviewed

Lake County, Minnesota 16

Barnes and 

Drummond, Wisconsin

13

High Knob, Virginia 18

Taylor, Florida 9
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Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Discussion

The Eastern United States is different from 

the Western United States in many ways. 

For one thing, most of the land in the East 

is privately owned, primarily by citizens and 

corporations. Another difference is that human 

communities are found almost everywhere. In 

addition, there is a lot of forested land in the 

East. Because of this, much of the land in the 

East can be considered as a kind of WUI. 

This makes it more challenging for communities 

in the East to identify the WUI as an area 

separate from everywhere else—the WUI 

is everywhere!

Findings

Three of the four communities identified the 

WUI in their plan. These were the communities 

of Lake County, Minnesota; Barnes and 

Drummond, Wisconsin; and Taylor, Florida. 

Three things were most important to these 

communities as they identified their WUI 

(figure 5).

Although people understood the general 

definition of the WUI, each community defined 

the WUI that was important to them. In some 

communities, people working for Federal 

agencies helped the local people define their 

WUI. Federal workers did not have to be 

involved but, when they were, they were able 

to help people understand the risk of fire in 

their WUI. Federal workers also helped people 

understand what they could do to reduce that 

risk. Members of fire departments and other 

professionals also affected the way the WUI 

was identified and described. 

Hazards

How much fuel is available 

to burn; how often wildfires 

occurred; how many fires 

were caused by humans; 

not enough planning by 

the community.

Values

What people feel is 

important to them; the 

value of their homes and 

other buildings; the importance of having forests for 

wood products.

Physical 

locations

Local fire departments; 

public land boundaries; 

distance from fire stations; 

the condition of the roads.

The case studies showed that it is important 

to include local homeowners when describing 

the WUI. These people are familiar with 

the area and can help identify problems and 

opportunities. Also, when local people are 

involved in planning for an activity (like reducing 

the items that can burn close to their homes), 

they are more likely to do the activity.

The scientists discovered that when the local 

WUI is described as a part of the Community 

Wildfire Protection Plan, people with different 

opinions must come to an agreement. The 

description of the local WUI, therefore, is a 

community definition that everyone shares, and 

it helps local communities to better prepare for 

a possible wildfire.

Figure 5. Things people considered as they 

described their own WUI.

Reflection Section

b	 Why do you thinkmembers offire

departments affected theway theWUIwas

defined and described?

b	 Whatwas one benefit of having community

memberswork togetherto define and

describe theirWUI?
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Reflection Section

b	 Think about the large areas of

undeveloped land in the Western United

States. Do you think most of that land

could be considered the WUI? Why or

why not? 

b	 Give another example of when getting

together to discuss something resulted

in a better plan of action.

Glossary

Ecosystem (ē-kō-sis-təm): Community of plant 

and animal species interacting with one another 

and with the nonliving environment.

Forest manager (ˈfȯr-əst ˈma-ni-jər): Skilled 

individual who takes care of natural resources.

Professional (prə-ˈfesh-nəl): People that have 

specialized training in a particular area.

Public land (pə-blik ˈland): Land that is owned 

by the people as a whole; land that is taken care 

of for the good of all of the people.

Resource (rē-ˌsȯrs,): Something that takes care 

of a need.

Vegetation (ve-jə-ˈtā-shən): Plant life.

Accented syllables are in bold. Marks taken from 

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Guide.

Adapted from Grayzeck-Souter, S. A.; Nelson, K.; Brummel, R.; Jakes, P.; and 

Williams, D. 2009. Interpreting federal policy at the local level: The wildlandurban interface concept in wildfire protection planning in the eastern United 

States. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 18: 278–289. http://www.

treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/33049.

In spite of these challenges, there are 

advantages to defining and describing a local 

WUI. When communities get together and 

define and describe the local WUI, they come 

to an agreement about the hazards, values, and 

resources in the community. This helps them 

develop a better plan to protect the community 

from a possible wildfire. It also helps them work 

with public land managers to protect forests 

across the landscape.

FACTivity

Time Needed

Three class periods

Materials

Paper, pencils

The question you will answer in this 

FACTivity is: What type of action plan can 

we create to help our school?

Procedure: 

In this FACTivity, you will get together 

with other students and brainstorm a list 

of challenges or concerns at the school.

These can be ongoing challenges or a 

challenge the school will meet in the future.

For example, a challenge may be that so 

many parents drive their kids to school that 

the traffic gets backed up and kids are late to 

school. Another example is that students have 

to take standardized tests at the end of the 

year, and they must prepare throughout the 

year to pass these tests.

Once a list of challenges has been 

compiled, your teacher will divide you 

and the other students into pairs or small 

groups. These are the Action Plan Teams.

An action plan is a plan that can be put into 

effect to help make the challenging situation 

easier for the school. In the article just read, 

community members created plans to help 

them in case of a wildfire.
32

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Each group will create an action plan for 

one of the challenges identified during the 

class discussion.

The action plan should include the 

following elements (Note: your teacher may 

have more requirements):

1. Title of action plan

2. Names of action plan team members

3. One or two paragraph summary 

of the challenge and why it is a 

challenge for your school

4. Three to five steps that can be taken 

by students, teachers, administrators, 

and parents to help improve this 

challenging situation

5. A timeline for implementing your 

suggestions

6. One or two paragraphs on why using 

the action plan will help improve 

the situation and how the school 

community would benefit from this 

improvement

Once the plans have been written, you 

and the other students will present these 

plans to the class. After each presentation, 

discuss the plan and see if there are other 

ideas that can be added to the plan from 

other classmates.

FACTivity Extension

Teachers:

If you are a PLT-trained 

educator, you may use Activity 

#35, “Loving It Too Much;” 

#36, “Pollution Search;” #37, 

“Talking Trash, Not!;” and 

#38, “Every Drop Counts,” as 

additional resources.

These plans can be submitted 

to the school administration and 

implemented.

National Science 

Education Standards 

addressed in the 

article:

Science as Inquiry: 

 Abilities To Do Scientific Inquiry; 

 Understandings About Scientific Inquiry

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: 

 Personal Health;

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risk and Hazards

Science and Technology:

 Understandings About Science and Technology

History and Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science

Additional Web 

Resources

University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wildland-Urban 

Interface Maps and Statistics

http://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/library/WUILibrary.asp

Forest Service Wildfire Prevention and Wildland 

Urban Interface

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/fireprevention/

Firewise Communities

http://www.firewise.org/
33

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

What Types of 

Post-Fire Snag

Areas Do 

Woodpeckers 

Prefer?

Photo by Terry Spivey, Forest Service, http://Bugwood.org.

Pecking 

Order: 
34

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Meet the Scientists

Dr. Chad Hanson, Forest and Fire 

Ecologist: My favorite experiences as a 

scientist are when I’m doing field work in 

burned forest habitat. I like working in fire 

areas where most of the trees were killed 

by fire. Many people assume that these 

areas are somehow damaged. In reality, the 

sights and sounds of native wildlife species, 

especially birds, are more evident in these 

types of forests than in others. t

s

Dr. Malcolm North, Forest Ecologist: My 

favorite science experience was climbing 

into the top of a 175-foot-tall red fir to collect 

lichen samples during a wind storm.

Thinking About Science

As scientists continue to do research, they learn new things. In the past, for example, 

scientists believed the best thing to do after a severe wildfire was to cut down and remove 

most of the snags. Snags are dying or dead trees that are left standing after a fire, flood, wind, 

disease, or insect damage. More recent research, however, has shown that snags may provide 

ecological benefits to an area. 

 When science is used to solve a problem or make something better, it is called 

applied science. In this study, the scientists were doing applied science. This is 

because their research could be used to help forest managers take better care of 

the forest after a wildfire occurred. 
35

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Thinking About the Environment

Think about your friends at school. They may seem similar to each other, but 

none of them are alike. This is true, even though they may like the same activities 

and laugh at the same jokes. Like your friends at school, all wildfires may seem 

alike, but they can actually be very different. One of the ways that wildfires are 

different from each other is that they burn at different severity levels. Wildfires 

are classified as low-, moderate-, or high-severity fires. High-severity fires are 

where most or all of the trees are killed by the fire (figure 1). Low-severity fires 

still have trees that are living (figure 2).

Because wildfires do not burn evenly, a patch of forest that has experienced a high-severity burn 

may be almost surrounded by areas that have experienced low or medium severity wildfire. 

Figure 1. A high-severity wildfire burned 

this area. You can see that most or all 

of the trees are dead. Photo by Randall 

Whitehall, Forest Service.

Figure 2. A low-severity wildfire burned this 

area. Although some of the trees’ needles or 

leaves may be brown, few trees have been 

damaged by the wildfire. Photo by Randall 

Whitehall, Forest Service.

Figure 3. Black-backed woodpecker. Photo 

by Terry Spivey, Forest Service, courtesy 

http://Bugwood.org.

Introduction

Trees that are dead but still standing are 

called snags. Even though snags are dead, they 

are still are important parts of the forest. Snags 

provide benefits to the environment, especially 

to the animals that live nearby. Some of the 

benefits include providing a home for birds, 

mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Snags 

also are used as hunting perches by birds and 

perches for songbirds. Snags are a good source 

of food for some animals because snags provide 

habitat for insects, mosses, lichens, and fungi. 

Some woodpeckers use snags for food. The 

Black-backed woodpecker is one of the animals 

that needs snags to survive (figure 3).
36

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

The Black-backed 

woodpecker is considered a 

keystone species. A keystone 

species is one that can indicate 

problems in the environment. 

This is because these species 

are sensitive to environmental 

changes. If their population 

numbers fall, for example, this 

might mean that other species 

needing that same environment 

are in danger also. For example, 

in the 1870s there were a lot of 

Black-backed woodpeckers in 

the Sierra Nevada (figure 4). 

By the 1920s, however, there 

were relatively few of these 

woodpeckers. This drop in 

woodpecker population indicated 

that there was something 

changing in the environment that 

was causing problems for the 

woodpecker. There were probably 

problems for other species living 

there as well. 

Forest managers usually leave 

between three to six large snags 

per acre after a wildfire. The 

rest are cut down and removed. 

Past records had showed that 

the Black-backed woodpecker 

seemed to live in forest areas 

with a lot of snags. Because 

the population of Black-backed 

woodpeckers had fallen in the 

Sierra Nevada, scientists wanted 

to study what types of postfire habitats this woodpecker 

liked best. In this study, the 

scientists wanted to know what 

types of post-fire snag forests 

were best for the Black-backed 

woodpecker’s foraging. 

Figure 4. The Sierra Nevada is located in the Western 

United States.

Reflection Section

b	 In the formof a question, statewhatthe scientists

wanted to learn in this study. 

b	 In your ownwords, describewhy a keystone species is

important.

b	 Do you think itis importantto improve the habitatfor

keystone species?Why orwhy not?

Figure 5. The location of the study sites in the Sierra Nevada.
37

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Habitat condition Number of 

patches studied

Unburned 9

Moderate-severity and all snags 

left standing 8

High-severity and all snags 

left standing 10

High-severity and only 

8-15 large snags left standing 

per hectare

9

Figure 6. The scientists studied four different post-fire 

conditions.

Figure 7. Each patch was surveyed in the same way 

for the presence or absence of the Black-backed 

woodpecker.

Methods

The scientists studied several 

different patches of forest in the 

Sierra Nevada (figure 5). Each 

patch was at least 12 hectares in 

size. The study took place from 

2004 through 2006. Each patch 

was labeled as having experienced a 

moderate-severity or high-severity 

wildifire. The scientists also noted 

whether or not the area had any of its 

snags removed and how many snags 

were in each hectare (figure 6).

The scientists walked through 

all of the patches and recorded the 

presence or absence of the Blackbacked woodpecker. The scientists 

started their observations 100 

meters from the edge of the patch 

and moved toward the center 

(figure 7). Every 200 meters the 

scientists stopped and recorded 

the presence or absence of the 

woodpecker during an 8-minute 

time period. The same method 

was used in each patch.

Reflection Section

b	 Why do you think the scientists noted howmany snagswere in the patches? 

b	 Do you think itis importantthatthe scientists used the samemethod in each patch to

record the presence ofthe Black-backedwoodpecker?Why orwhy not?

Number 

Crunches

b	 Each patchwas atleast

howlarge in acres?Multiply12by2.47tofindout.

b	 Howmany totalforest

patcheswere studied by

the scientists?
38

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Findings

The scientists reviewed all the information 

they collected. They put their observations into 

a computer program to help them analyze the 

data. When they analyzed their observations, 

the scientists found that Black-backed 

woodpeckers were found in only one type of 

patch. The woodpeckers were found only in 

patches that had experienced high-severity 

wildfires and where all of the snags were 

left standing. 

The scientists found that there was a 

difference between the number and size of 

snags in each type of patch (figure 8).

Discussion

The Black-backed woodpecker clearly 

prefers one type of habitat for foraging. Patches 

that experienced high-severity burns with 

snags left standing were the favorite areas 

for the woodpecker. This research suggests 

that, if forest managers want to support the 

population of Black-backed woodpeckers, they 

should not remove snags from patches that had 

experienced high-severity burns.

Reflection Section

b	 Do you think thatthe number oflarge snags

in each patchwas related to the number of

woodpeckers found there?Why orwhy not? 

b	 Why do you think thewoodpeckers preferred

patcheswith large snags left standing?

Reflection Section

b	 In your ownwords, describe the habitat

the Black-backedwoodpecker prefers for

foraging.

b	 Why is this research usefulforforest

managers? 

Adapted from Hanson, C.T. and North, M.P. (2008). Postfire woodpecker foraging in salvage-logged and unlogged forests of the Sierra Nevada. The Condor. 110 (4): 

777-782. http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/33988.

Habitat condition Number of patches 

studied

Average number of 

medium size snags 

per hectare

Average number 

of large snags per 

hectare

Unburned 9 13.9 7.4

Moderate-severity and all 

snags left standing 8 110.8 53.4

High-severity and all 

snags left standing 10 127.5 124.2

High-severity and only 8-15 large 

snags left standing per hectare 9 169 18.5

Figure 8. The average number of snags per hectare in each of the patch types.
39

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Glossary

Analyze (ˈa-nə-ˌlīz): To separate something into 

its parts in order to examine them.

Ecological (ˌē-kə-ˈlä-ji-kəl): Having to do with 

ecology, the study of organisms and their 

relationship with their environment.

Forage (ˈfȯr-ij): Food for animals usually taken 

by browsing or grazing; the act of taking such food.

Habitat (ˈha-bə-ˌtat): Environment where a plant 

or animal naturally grows and lives.

Lichen (ˈlī-kən): Plant-like organisms that are 

made up of an alga and a fungus. They are found 

on rocks, on branches, and in many other places.

Post-fire (ˈpōst ˈfi(-ə)r): After a fire.

Sample (ˈsam-pəl): A part or piece that shows 

what the whole group or thing is like.

Severity level: (sə-ˈver-ə-tē ˈle-vəl): A measure 

of the amount of trees that are killed due to a 

fire.

Species (ˈspē-(ˌ)shēz): Groups of organisms that 

resemble one another in appearance, behavior, 

chemical processes, and genetic structure.

Accented syllables are in bold. Marks taken from 

FACTivity Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Guide.

Time Needed

One class period

Materials needed

pencils, notebooks

The question you will answer in this 

FACTivity is: What attracts Black-backed 

woodpeckers to their habitat?

Procedure: 

Before beginning, you may download 

the following Natural Inquirer article from 

the Natural Inquirer Web site: “Wood 

Roaches for Dinner Again?” (http://www.

naturalinquirer.org/Fall-98-Edition-i-6.

html). You may use this article as part of 

your research about the habitat of various 

species of woodpeckers.

Using the media center, Internet, and 

other sources, you should become familiar 

with the nesting and eating preferences of 

woodpeckers in general. Then, you should 

focus your research on the Black-backed 

woodpecker. Answer questions such as 

“What do Black-backed woodpeckers eat? 

Where do Black-backed woodpeckers make 

their nests?”

Once you have learned about the habitat 

preferences of Black-backed woodpeckers, 

imagine what it might be like to be a Blackbacked woodpecker. Pretending to be a 

Black-backed woodpecker, write a letter 

to another species of woodpecker. In the 

letter, describe your life as a Black-backed 

woodpecker in post-fire forests of the 

Sierra Nevada. Include information about 

where Black-backed woodpeckers live 

and why, what they eat, and where they 

find their food. Use information from this 

article to describe, from a woodpecker’s 

perspective, the research that was done.

Imagine and describe how Black-backed 

woodpeckers responded to the research 

being done between 2004 and 2006.

Share your letter with the class. In a 

class discussion, compare and contrast 

the letters. What was similar and different 

about the lives of the woodpeckers? What 

kind of responses did the woodpeckers 

have to the research being done by 

the scientists? Your teacher will have 

you explain why you wrote your letter 

as you did. Your teacher will then have 

you answer the question posed at the 

beginning of this FACTivity.
40

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Teachers: If you are a PLTtrained educator, you may use 

Activity #81, “Living With Fire,” 

and #22, “Trees as Habitats,” as 

additional resources.

FACTivity Extension

Students may compose pictures of Black-backed woodpeckers in their 

Sierra Nevada post-fire habitat. These may be paired with the letters and 

posted on the wall or in the school hallway.

National Science 

Education Standards 

addressed in the 

article:

Science as Inquiry: 

 Abilities To Do Scientific Inquiry; 

 Understandings About Scientific Inquiry

Life Science: 

 Structure and Function in Living Systems; 

 Regulation and Behavior; 

 Populations and Ecosystems; 

 Diversity and Adaptation of Organisms

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: 

 Populations, Resources, and Environments; 

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risks and Benefits

History and Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science

Additional Web 

Resources

Snag and Den Tree Habitat for Wildlife

http://gf.state.wy.us/downloads/pdf/habitat/Bulletin%20

No.%2046.pdf

Cornell University’s Black-backed Woodpecker 

information 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-backed_

Woodpecker/lifehistory

Wildfire Burn Severity Classification

http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/fires/severity.

html
41

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Trust Is a Must: 

What Is Involved in Trusting 

Those Who Manage Forest Fires?

Photo courtesy of Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region.
42

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Meet the Scientists

Mr. Adam Liljeblad, Social Scientist: My 

favorite science experience was interviewing 

residents of a small town about the places that 

were important to them. They drew on maps 

as we talked. That way, I could see the places 

that were special to them as they talked about 

why they valued those places so much. t

Dr. Bill Borrie, Social Scientist: 

My favorite science experience 

was researching snowmobilers and 

snowcoach riders in Yellowstone 

National Park. A snowcoach is like a 

van on skis or with a bulldozer-type 

of tread for moving in the snow. I love 

visiting the park in the middle of winter 

when it is quiet and full of mystery! 

Dr. Alan Watson, Social Scientist: My 

favorite science experience was riding by 

motorcycle over 2,000 miles to the Monte 

(ˈmän-tē) Azul (ah-zyül) Biosphere ('bī-ə-ˌsfir) 

Reserve in southern Mexico. I was on my 

way to the 9th World Wilderness Congress.

I was interested in learning what the local 

people were doing to protect this important 

area while keeping their old ways of life in 

the jungle of Chiapas (chē-ˈä-päs).

s

s
43

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Scientists can study just about anything. In the Natural Inquirer, the topics studied 

are always concerned with the natural environment. Most of them involve studying 

plants, animals, water, weather, or other natural topics. Some topics, however, 

involve people’s relationships with each other and with the natural environment. 

These topics and others like them are studied by social scientists. 

In this study, the social scientists wondered about trust. What is trust? If you 

trust someone, why do you do so? The scientists wondered how much trust some 

citizens in Montana have in those who are making decisions about wildland fire. When social 

scientists develop questions to study, these questions always involve human beliefs, attitudes, 

values, or actions.

Thinking About the 

Environment

The United States contains millions of acres 

of public land. Public land is land that is owned 

by all of the citizens of a government. At the 

Federal level, public land includes national parks, 

national forests, national wildlife refuges 

(ˈre-(ˌ)fyüjs), and other types of land. These 

lands are managed by Government employees 

on behalf of citizens.

Some Government employees 

make decisions about managing 

wildland fires on public land. In 

some places, wildland fires could 

threaten homes and businesses. 

This is because in these areas, 

people’s homes and businesses 

are located close to public land. 

In many places, however, fire is a 

natural part of nature and provides 

many benefits to the land, the 

animals, and the plants there. 

When people trust Government 

employees to manage public land 

in the best interest of the land 

and the people, the Government 

employees can do 

a better job for 

people and the 

environment. 

Introduction

Trust is a complicated emotion. In the past, 

many social scientists have studied trust. They 

discovered that trust involves a number of 

beliefs and emotions. The scientists in this study 

were interested in learning more about trust. 

They believed that forest managers can do a 

better job if people trust them to do what is best 

for citizens and the environment (figure 1).

Thinking About Science

Figure 1. When citizens trust forest managers, the 

managers can do a better job of managing the forest.
44

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Reflection Section

b	 Why is trust an important emotion in yourlife?

b	 Doyouthinkthatforestmanagerscandoabetterjob if citizens trustthem?Why orwhy not?

The Three 

Parts of Trust The person who trusts...

Shared values

Believes that the trustee 

holds similar values, such as 

honesty, justice, or fairness

Belief that 

others will act 

on their behalf

Willingly believes that the 

trustee is worthy of being 

trusted; is willing to take a risk 

and put their well-being in the 

trustee’s control; believes that 

the trustee is truly interested 

in their well-being.

Belief that 

others are 

capable of 

acting correctly

Believes that the trustee is 

capable, reliable, effective, 

and has previous experience.

Figure 2. The scientists found information 

claiming that trust is made up of three parts.

Each of the three parts is made up of other 

beliefs and emotions.

Figure 3. The Bitterroot National Forest.

Photo by Garon Smith.

The scientists searched the library and 

Internet for information about trust. When 

there is trust, there must be a trustee and a 

person who trusts. The trustee may be an 

individual, a group, an organization, or even 

a whole community. This is the party that is 

trusted. The party who trusts is usually an 

individual. The scientists found that trust may 

be made up of three parts. Figure 2 explains 

the three parts that make up trust. 

The scientists wanted to know how much 

citizens trust forest managers to make good 

decisions about wildland fires on their behalf.

Methods

The scientists identified forest managers who 

manage wildland fires as the trustees. These 

forest managers work in the Bitterroot National 

Forest (figure 3). The Bitterroot National Forest 

is located in western Montana and part of Idaho 

(figure 4). These managers are Government 

employees who work for the Forest Service. 

These forest managers take actions to prevent 

large and destructive wildfires. When large 

wildfires occur, the forest managers take actions 

to control or extinguish the wildfires. 

The scientists identified citizens living near 

the Bitterroot National Forest as those who 

may or may not trust forest managers. To 

get answers to their questions, the scientists 

developed a survey of questions to ask the 

citizens. The scientists asked questions of a 

sample of citizens living in the Bitterroot Valley 

of western Montana. The scientists used both 

land line and cell phones to speak with citizens. 

This valley had many recent wildfires, and those 

fires had occurred in areas not too far from the 

citizens’ homes. Figure 5 gives an example of 

some of the questions asked.

The scientists then put all of the answers 

together. Based on the three parts of trust shown 

in figure 2, the scientists determined which of 

those parts of trust the citizens felt about forest 

managers in the Bitterroot National Forest.
45

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Reflection Section

b	 Match the six questions in figure 5with the

three parts oftrustin figure 2.Which ofthe

three parts does each question address?

b	In today’s society,what are two disadvantages of using the telephone to

ask questions of citizens?

1. When managers of the Bitterroot 

National Forest speak on television, radio, 

in newspapers, or at public meetings about 

forest fires, how often, if at all, do they tell 

the truth?

2. How much confidence, if any, do you 

have in fire managers in the Bitterroot 

National Forest?

3. How often, if at all, do you think fires in the 

Bitterroot National Forest are managed 

according to a fair process?

4. How satisfied are you, if at all, with the 

way the Bitterroot National Forest staff 

deals with fires?

5. Based on your observations and 

experiences, what portion, if any, of the 

people who manage forest fires in the 

Bitterroot National Forest know what 

they are doing?

6. How much do you agree with this 

statement: Managers of the Bitterroot 

National Forest respond to the needs of 

local residents when fighting fires?

Figure 4. The Bitterroot National Forest is 

located in Idaho and Montana.

Findings

Of all of the people the scientists tried to 

contact, 68 percent answered their questions. Of 

these, almost 90 percent said that they had been 

affected by smoke and fires in the Bitterroot Valley. 

The scientists found that citizens think that 

forest managers act with honesty and care about 

citizens’ needs. The scientists also found that 

citizens do not think managers pay attention to 

what people think. Although citizens are not 

completely satisfied with or entirely confident in 

the way fire is managed in the Bitterroot Valley, 

they are proud of the way it is managed. Citizens 

feel that forest managers are somewhat effective, 

reliable, and competent in managing fires. 

Although all three parts of trust were 

important, the scientists found that “The belief 

that others are capable of acting correctly” was 

the most important to the citizens. 

Reflection Section

b	 What are some ofthepositive things citizens

hadto say aboutforestmanagers?What

are some ofthe negative things citizens had

to say aboutforestmanagers? If youwere

the scientists,whatwould you tellthe forest

managers todo to increase the level oftrust? 

b	 Although allthreepartswere important,the

scientists found that “Thebeliefthat others

are capable of acting correctly”was themost

importantpart oftrust. Based on your own

experience,which partdo you think ismost

important andwhy?

Figure 5. Some of the questions asked by 

the scientists.
46

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

FACTivity

must consider the long-term health of the forest. 

The scientists concluded that understanding 

public trust is just one way to evaluate how 

well forest managers are doing. They believe, 

however, that understanding and building trust 

should be used more often as a way to evaluate 

how well forest managers are doing.

Discussion

The scientists believe that studies like this 

can help forest managers do a better job of 

managing fire. By understanding what people 

believe and feel about the way forest managers 

manage fire, they can improve what they do. 

They can also communicate better with the 

public about their decisions. 

The scientists caution, 

however, that citizens’ opinions 

should not be the only way that 

success is measured. Forest 

managers, and especially those 

who manage fire, must consider 

many things. They must consider 

the animals and plants that live 

in the forest, for example. They 

Reflection Section

b	 Howcan better communication buildmore trust between an

individual and a trustee?Use an example fromyour own life. 

b	 Think about any public land close to your home. This can be

a localpark, a State park, a national park, or State or national

forestland.Do you trustthemanagers to do a good job of

managing the land?Why orwhy not?

This article was adapted from Liljeblad, A.; Borrie, W.T.; Watson, A.E. 2009. Determinants of trust for public lands: Fire and fuels management on the Bitterroot 

National Forest. Environmental Management. 43: 571–584. http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/34155.

Glossary

Biosphere (ˈbī-ə-ˌsfir): The 

part of Earth where life can 

exist.

Extinguish (ik-ˈstiŋ-(g)

wish): To bring to an end.

Forest manager (ˈfȯr-əst 

ˈma-ni-jər): Skilled individual 

who takes care of natural 

resources.

Manage (ˈma-nij): To have 

charge of or direct the 

work of.

Sample (ˈsam-pəl): A part 

or piece that shows what 

the whole group or thing is 

like.

Accented syllables are in bold.

Marks taken from MerriamWebster Pronunciation Guide.

In this FACTivity, the question you will answer is: How 

much do some adults trust Federal forest managers? 

The method you will use to do 

this is the following:

Make a copy of the questions on the following page: One 

set of questions will be needed for each adult surveyed. You 

should survey between two and five adults.

After the information has been collected, share your 

results with the other students. Create a chart that shows 

the total numbers of answers to each of the questions.

Determine the level of trust by adding the score for 

each adult who responded. A high trust level would be 

represented by a score between 30–35, a score showing 

moderate trust levels is between 21–29, and low trust level 

scores are between 9–20. Combine your information and 

determine how to display results in a graph or chart.

If you do not live near a public land area that is managed 

by Federal forest managers or State of local park managers, 

then survey adults about how much they trust their local fire 

departments.
47

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

What Do You Think?

Please circle the choice that best describes how you feel about Federal employees who 

manage public land (Federal forest managers). You may substitute local fire department 

employees for Federal employees if you do not live near Federal public land.

When Federal forest 

managers speak on television, 

radio, in newspapers, or at 

public meetings how often, if 

at all, do they tell the truth?

Always – 4 

Mostly – 3 

Less than half the time – 2 

Never – 1 

Don’t know – Do not count

Generally speaking, how 

satisfied are you, if at all, 

with the way Federal forest 

managers fight fires?

Very satisfied – 4 

Somewhat satisfied – 3 

Somewhat dissatisfied – 2 

Very dissatisfied – 1 

Not sure – Do not count

How much attention, if any, 

have Federal forest managers 

paid to what people think 

when they decide what to do 

about forest fires?

A good deal of attention – 3 

Some attention – 2 

Not much attention – 1 

Don’t know – Do not count

Federal forest managers 

respond to the needs of local 

residents when fighting fires.

Strongly agree – 4 

Somewhat agree – 3 

Somewhat disagree – 2 

Strongly disagree – 1 

Don’t know – Do not count

In the past, how pleased, 

if at all, have you been 

with the way fires in your 

local national forest were 

managed?

Very pleased – 4

Somewhat pleased – 3

Somewhat displeased – 2

Very displeased – 1

Does not apply – Do not count

Based on your observations 

and experiences, what 

portion, if any, of the people 

who manage forest fires 

know what they are doing?

All – 4 

Most – 3 

Less than half – 2 

None – 1 

Don’t know – Do not count

In your community, 

how would you rate the 

effectiveness of your local 

Federal forest managers in 

dealing with fire- related 

issues?

Excellent – 4 

Good – 3 

Fair – 2 

Poor – 1 

Don’t know – Do not count 

Does not apply – Do not count

How sure, if at all, have 

you felt that forest fires 

threatening your community 

or your property would be 

put out in time?

Very sure – 4 

Somewhat sure – 3 

Somewhat unsure – 2 

Very unsure – 1 

Don’t know – Do not count

Does not apply – Do not count

I find the local Federal forest 

managers to be reliable when 

managing fires.

Strongly agree – 4 

Somewhat agree – 3

Somewhat disagree – 2 

Strongly disagree – 1 

Don’t know – Do not count
48

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Teachers: If you are a PLTtrained educator, you may use 

Activity #34, “Who Works in 

this Forest?” or Activity #81, 

“Living With Fire,” as additional 

resources.

FACTivity Extension

Compare and contrast between Federal forest managers and 

local park managers. To do this, conduct more surveys, substituting 

“Federal forest managers” with “local park managers.”

If you do not live near a public land that is managed by Federal 

forest managers or State or local park managers, then compare 

and contrast the trust level between the local fire department and 

the local police department.

Correlation to 

National Science 

Education Standards

Science as Inquiry:

 Understandings About Scientific Inquiry; 

 Abilities Necessary To Do Scientific Inquiry

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives:

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risks and Benefits

Science and Technology in Society: 

 Understandings in Science and Technology

History and Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science 

Additional Web 

Resources

Bitterroot National Forest

http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/bitterroot/

Fire and Aviation Management 

http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/management/

Forest Fires

http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Policy/Fire/

FamousFires/FamousFires.aspx
49

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Can We Grow Now? 

Helping Bristlecone 

Pine Trees To Take 

Root and Grow

Photo by Dave Powell, Forest Service, http://www.Bugwood.org.
50

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Thinking About the Environment

Bristlecone pine trees are special. They are special because they can 

live for long periods of time, some up to 4,500 years. This makes them 

the oldest living species on Earth. In the Ancient Bristlecone Forest in 

California, the oldest of these trees is named Methuselah (mə-ˈthü-zə-lə). 

This tree was named for the oldest person named in the Bible. Methuselah 

is a Great Basin bristlecone pine. The scientists in this study examined 

Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine trees. Bristlecone pines can live in harsh 

environments, such as cold, windswept, rocky slopes (figure 1). They can also live in more 

favorable habitats, where they form closed-canopy forests (figure 2). 

Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine trees are found in Colorado. Bristlecone pine trees 

provide a lot of benefits to the areas in which they grow. They provide seeds for birds and 

other wildlife. They hold carbon in their wood, which helps to reduce climate change. They 

contribute to the water cycle by pulling in water through their roots and transpiring it 

through their needles. They provide a special benefit to people who visit the old trees, or 

maybe just look at photographs of them. Can you name this benefit? The benefits provided 

by nature are called ecosystem services.

Figure 1. Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine. Figure 2. Closed-canopy bristlecone 

pine forest. 

When scientists complete their research, they 

communicate their results to other scientists. One 

way they do this is by writing a scientific paper. 

Within a scientific paper, scientists almost always 

use many ways to communicate. These ways 

include words, photographs, maps, drawings, 

tables, charts, and graphs. As you read Natural 

Inquirer articles or other scientific material, 

look carefully at the many ways scientists 

communicate their findings. 

In this article, you will see photographs, 

charts, and maps that help you understand the 

research. In your own life, how do photographs, 

charts, and maps help you understand in a way 

that words do not? Have you recently 

looked at an hour-by-hour forecast 

of the temperature? How does that 

graph help you understand the 

coming weather in ways that words 

do not?

Thinking About Science
51

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Meet the Scientists

Dr. Jonathan Coop, Plant Ecologist: My 

favorite science experiences are learning 

something new about how nature works 

and sharing what I know with students, 

especially on top of a mountain. t

s

Dr. Anna Schoettle, Plant Ecophysiologist 

(ē-kō-ˌfi-zē-ˈä-lə-jist): My favorite science 

experience is exploring the relationships 

between plants and their environments. I 

also enjoy providing scientific information 

that helps forest managers take care of our 

beautiful public lands..

For more information on ecosystem services, 

see the Ecosystem Services edition of the 

Natural Inquirer at http://www.naturalinquirer.

org. Click on “Search and order issues.”

Introduction

Bristlecone pines have an interesting relationship 

with fire. When a fire occurs, it may open a 

once-closed area to sunlight. When this happens, 

bristlecone pine seedlings get a chance to grow. 

These trees grow slowly, however, and can take 

between 50 and 100 years to mature. A tree is 

considered mature when it begins to produce seeds. 

The seeds of a bristlecone pine have wings (figures 

3 and 4). When wind blows, the seeds travel away 

from the parent tree. Most of the seeds land within 

10 to 100 meters of the parent tree. 

In the early 1900s, a fungus from Asia was 

brought by accident to the United States. 

This fungus is deadly to many pines, including 

bristlecone pine trees. This fungus is called white 

pine blister rust (figure 5). If white pine blister 

rust spreads across Colorado, the bristlecone 

pine trees could be in danger. 

Figure 3. Bristlecone pine seeds.

Figure 4. Bristlecone pine cone. Why do 

you think these trees are called bristlecone 

pine trees? 
52

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Figure 6. The areas studied by the scientists.

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany yards away fromthe parent

tree domost bristlecone pine seeds land?

Multiply the number ofmetersby 1.09 to find

out.Howmany feet away fromthe parent

tree domost ofthese seeds land?

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany years have passed since the

severewildfires in Colorado?

The scientists in this study wanted to know 

more about the best conditions for bristlecone 

pine tree seeds to take root and grow. If they 

better understood this, forest managers could 

do things to improve the conditions for seeds to 

take root and grow. One way to save bristlecone 

pine trees from white pine blister rust is to find 

trees that are not as easily affected by white 

pine blister rust. When scientists and forest 

managers find bristlecone pines that are resistant 

to this disease, they can plant those trees’ seeds 

in the best locations.

Reflection Section

b	 In the formof a question, statewhatthe

scientistswanted to discover. 

b	 Name two things thatmake it hard for Rocky

Mountain bristlecone pine trees to survive.

Methods

The scientists identified two areas in Colorado 

that experienced a severe wildfire in 1978 

(figure 6). These areas were in the Pike-San 

Isabel National Forest. 

The areas were too large to examine entirely. 

The scientists developed a system to randomly 

select smaller areas within the larger areas. The 

scientists made sure that they studied areas that 

had experienced different levels of fire. They 

selected areas 15, 45, and 100 meters into each 

burned area. They also studied areas of forest 

at the edge of the burned area. The scientists 

placed each area they studied into one of three 

categories: (1) completely burned, (2) partly 

burned, and (3) unburned (figure 7).

Within each area they studied, the scientists 

counted the number of trees. They measured the 

size and height of each tree (figure 8). They also 

counted the number of saplings and seedlings. 

Saplings are young trees, and seedlings are even 

younger trees. They did this for every tree species 

in the area. 

Figure 5. A bristlecone pine infected by 

white pine blister rust. 
53

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 7. The scientists studied three different 

kinds of areas.

Figure 8. Scientists and foresters determine 

the size of a tree by measuring the diameter at 

breast height (d.b.h.).

Figure 9b. The scientists measured the 

distance from randomly selected points to the 

three nearest objects to each point.

Figure 9a. The scientists measured the 

distance from each seedling to the three 

nearest objects.

Reflection Section

b	 Why did the scientists selecttheir study

sites randomly?

b	 Whydo youthink the scientistsmeasuredthe

distance fromeachseedlingto other objects?

b	 Why do you think the scientistsmeasured the

distance fromrandomly selected points to

nearby objects?

For every bristlecone pine seedling found, the 

scientists did something extra. They identified 

the three other objects nearest to each seedling. 

These other objects included boulders, stones, 

fallen wood, and standing tree trunks. They 

measured the distance from the seedling to each 

of the objects they found. 

The scientists also randomly identified other 

points in each area. They measured the distance 

from each point to the nearest three objects 

found. (figures 9a and 9b).
54

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Findings

The scientists found more bristlecone pine trees 

growing in partly burned areas than unburned and 

completely burned areas (figure 10). 

Younger trees were found more often closer to 

mature trees. As the distance from a mature tree 

increased, fewer young trees were found.

Figure 10. Partly burned areas had the most 

bristlecone pines. What do you notice about 

the two study areas?

Figure 11. You can see the seedling growing 

near the downed tree. The scientists call these 

other objects nurse objects because they 

appear to help the young trees grow.

Figure 12. When compared with the distance 

from an imaginary point, seedlings were found 

growing closer to other objects than they 

would have been by chance.

Reflection Section

b	 Look atfigure 10. You can see thatmore

bristlecone pine treeswere found growing in

partly burned areas.What else does that chart

tell you?. 

b	 Explain the evidence for callingboulders,

stones,fallenwood, and standingtree trunks

nurse objects.

The scientists found that seedlings were often 

growing near other objects, such as boulders, 

stones, fallen wood, and standing tree trunks 

(figure 11). They also found that, when compared 

with a randomly selected point, the seedlings were 

closer to these objects (figure 12). Average Distance in Centimeters (cm)

Number of tree stems 

per hectare

Unburned Seedling

Partly burned

Completely burned

1st 

Object Study Area 1 Study Area 2

60

600

800

40

400 20

200

2nd 

Object

3rd 

Object

Random Point
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Discussion

The scientists found that a partly burned area 

was more favorable for bristlecone pine tree 

growth than either unburned or completely burned 

areas. They concluded that partly burned areas 

are important for bristlecone pine trees. 

The scientists also concluded that objects such 

as boulders, stones, fallen wood, and standing tree 

trunks helped seeds to sprout and young trees to 

grow. They believe that these objects protect the 

seeds and young trees from wind, ice, the hot sun, 

and animals that might eat the seeds. 

The scientists suggested that forest managers 

could set controlled fires that create small 

openings. These small openings would be favorable 

places for bristlecone pine seeds to take root. In 

addition, forest managers could make sure these 

openings have nurse objects in them. Forest 

managers can create favorable areas on purpose. 

These areas will help more bristlecone pine trees 

to grow. When scientists find bristlecone pine 

trees that are more resistant to white pine blister 

rust, they can purposely plant seeds from those 

trees in these kinds of areas. By doing these things, 

scientists and forest managers can help to save the 

bristlecone pine.

Reflection Section

b	 Do you think forestmanagers should use fire

as a toolto help save the bristlecone pine?

Why orwhy not? 

b	 Name otherways that objects such as

boulders, stones,fallen trees, and standing

tree trunks provide benefits to the natural

environment, anywhere they are found.

Adapted from Coop, J.D. and Schoettle, A.W. 2009. Regeneration of Rocky 

Mountain bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) three 

decades after stand-replacing fires. Forest Ecology and Management. 257: 

893–903, http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs-other/rmrs_2009_coop_j001.pdf.

Glossary

Closed canopy (ˈklōzd ˈka-nə-pē): A forest in 

which the leaves of trees are touching, providing 

a mostly shaded area beneath.

Ecosystem (ē-kō-sis-təm) Community of plant 

and animal species interacting with one another 

and with the nonliving environment.

Forest manager (ˈfȯr-əst ˈma-ni-jər) Skilled 

individual who takes care of natural resources.

Habitat (ˈha-bə-ˌtat): Environment where a plant 

or animal naturally grows and lives.

Randomly (ˈran-dəm-lē): A way of selecting a 

smaller number from a group in such a way that 

all members of the group have the same chance 

of being selected.

Species (ˈspē-(ˌ)shēz): Groups of organisms that 

resemble one another in appearance, behavior, 

chemical processes, and genetic structure.

Transpiring (tran(t)-ˈspī(-ə)r iŋ): The act of 

passing off in the form of a vapor. Trees give off 

water vapor through pores in their leaves.

Accented syllables are in bold. Marks taken from 

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Guide.
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Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

FACTivity

You will answer the following questions 

in the FACTivity: What are the ways different 

seeds move away from the parent plant? 

What are the characteristics that enable 

seeds to travel from the parent plant? 

Time needed:

One class period (With prework in 

addition)

Materials needed:

Variety of seeds

For prework, collect three or more 

seeds from areas around your 

home, schoolyard, unmowed area, 

or wooded area. You may also 

collect seeds from fruits, such as 

from a tomato, apple, watermelon, 

or pumpkin. The entire fruit may be 

brought in as well.

Magnifying glasses or microscopes

Rulers

Blank paper

Pencil

For extension:

Fan

One small dry bean or seed (one for each 

student)

Paper

Scissors

Masking tape

Glue 

Tape measure

The procedure to be used to answer 

the question is:

Using this article as a starting point, the 

teacher will explain that all seeds have a way 

to travel from the parent tree. This is called 

seed dispersal. Examples include wind, 

water, animals (either by purposely carrying 

seeds, eating fruits and later defecating the 

seeds, or having seed burrs stick in their 

fur), and mechanics (such as “explosions”).

Bristlecone pine seeds are winged seeds 

and use wind as a way to travel. (Note 

that some seeds use more than one 

dispersal mechanism.)

Your teacher will create a station for each 

type of seed dispersal. Place your seeds at 

the station you think is the right one for each 

seed. A magnifying glass or microscope and 

ruler should be available at each station.

(Multiple stations for each type of seed could 

be established if there is enough room.)

You will then move from station to station, 

observing the seeds at each station. On 

your piece of paper, draw an example of the 

seeds and make notes about how the seed’s 

physical characteristics enable it to travel.

After all students have visited all stations, 

your teacher will hold a class discussion 

about what was discovered. How do you 

think each of the seeds is dispersed from 

the parent plant? What are the physical 

characteristics that make dispersal possible 

for each type of seed? Be sure to answer the 

questions posed at the beginning of 

this FACTivity.

Compare whatever winged seeds you 

collected with the photograph of the 

bristlecone pine seeds (figure 3 in the 

article). How are the seeds similar? How are 

they different?
57

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Teachers: If you are a 

trained PLT teacher, you 

may use Activity # 43, 

“Have Seeds, Will Travel,” 

as an additional resource.

FACTivity Extension

Get a dry seed or bean, a 

piece of paper, scissors, and 

have access to the tape and 

glue. Design a wind-dispersed 

seed mechanism for your 

seed. Be creative in your 

design. After the seeds have 

been designed, each student will 

drop their seed from the same height, 

in front of the fan. Each student will 

get three tries. Calculate the average 

distance. Determine which design 

traveled the farthest.

Hold a class discussion about why 

the seed that traveled the farthest did 

so. What design was used and what 

made it successful?

National Science 

Education Standards

Science as Inquiry: 

 Abilities Necessary To Do Scientific Inquiry;

 Understanding About Scientific Inquiry 

Life Science: 

 Structure and Function in Living Systems; 

 Populations and Ecosystems; 

 Diversity and Adaptations of Organisms;

 Reproduction and Heredity

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: 

 Populations, Resources, and Environments; 

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risk and Benefits

History and Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science

Additional Web 

Resources

The High Elevation White Pine Educational Web site

http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/

NOVA: Explore the Methuselah Grove 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/methuselah/

expl_grove.html

This FACTivity was adapted from Discovery Education: 

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/

programs/scatteringseeds/
58

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Investigating the Snakes 

That Live in the Bosque Along 

the Middle Rio Grande 

Photo courtesy of Forest Service, North Central Research Station Archive, http://Bugwood.org.

Snake, 

Rattle, 

and Roll: 
59

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Meet the Scientists

Dr. Heather 

Bateman, 

Ecologist, 

Wildlife Biologist, 

Herpetologist, 

Ornithologist: My 

favorite science 

experience has 

always been 

working with wildlife. I have enjoyed banding 

long-eared owls in the Great Basin in Utah 

and enjoyed capturing lava lizards on the 

Galapagos (gə-ˈlä-pə-gəs) Islands of Ecuador. I 

enjoy watching wildlife, especially on the rare 

occasions where you see them before they 

know you are there. For example, this summer 

I saw a bobcat kitten with its mother near a 

stream in Nevada.

Dr. Deborah Finch, Research 

Wildlife Biologist: My favorite 

science experience was collecting 

bird and small mammal data on 

the Wallowa-Whitman National 

Forest in Oregon and Idaho. While 

I was there I lived in a trailer 

in the middle of a wilderness,

surrounded by beautiful 

landscapes, and woke up each 

morning to singing by songbirds.

Dr. Alice 

ChungMacCoubrey, 

Research Wildlife 

Biologist: My 

favorite science 

experience was exploring the use of dogs 

to locate tree-roosting bats. In 2006, I 

conducted field tests to determine whether 

dogs could sniff out ground-dwelling or treeroosting bats in pinyon-juniper woodlands.

Dogs have a keen sense of smell and can 

alert their handlers to specific odors.

I worked with two wildlife detection dogs 

to see if they could locate bat scat (guano) 

in and around trees. I examined how the 

amount, distribution, and height of the 

guano in the tree affected the dogs’ ability 

to detect the guano. I loved this project 

because it combined my 

love for dogs with my 

work studying bat roost 

behavior. The idea for 

this project came to me 

when my dog, Chelsea, 

who accompanied me in 

the field, would sniff the 

area of the tree where 

the bats were roosting.

Thinking About 

Science

When scientists choose to conduct research 

on a certain topic, it is usually because the topic 

they want to research has not been completely 

studied. Scientists know this because they read 

to keep up with current research and information 

about the topic they are interested in studying. 

Because science often focuses on solving 

problems or answering questions, a research topic 

can be thought of as a puzzle. Think of the last 

time you completed a puzzle. 

There are many pieces to a 

puzzle to begin with. When you 

put all the pieces together you are 

able to see the whole picture. 

When scientists notice a piece 

of a research puzzle that is missing, 

they conduct a study to find out about that 

piece. When they find new information, they 

place it in the puzzle. The scientists in this study 

were interested in how snakes fit into the land 

restoration puzzle.

s

s

s
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Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Thinking About 

the Environment

The riparian forest land along 

the Rio Grande is locally referred to 

as the Bosque (Spanish word for forest) (figure 

1). Riparian habitat occurs along streams where 

the water meets the land. The Rio Grande is 

a river whose headwaters are in Colorado. It 

runs through New Mexico and forms the border 

between Texas and Mexico. Flooding is a natural 

disturbance to which the Bosque is well suited. 

Another natural disturbance of many 

areas is fire. However, the Bosque probably 

did not experience many fires in the past. Its

ecosystem, therefore, is not well suited to 

fire. Today, most of the fires in the Bosque 

are started by humans. Because the Bosque is 

close to human communities who live near the 

Rio Grande, forest managers take action to 

discourage fires. After a fire occurs, they work 

to restore the Bosque to its natural condition. 

In this way, managers take action to reduce the 

chance for another wildfire to get started and 

spread in the Bosque and into nearby human 

communities.

Managers take two main actions to 

discourage wildfires in the Bosque. One action is 

to remove plants that are not native. The other 

is to remove downed and dead trees from areas 

that have not decayed with the help of natural 

floods. One way to maintain the important 

Bosque habitat is to reduce fires, which can kill 

native cottonwood trees.

Figure 2. Scientists clearing an area of nonnative species.

Introduction

After an area has been changed by human 

or natural disturbances, forest managers often 

engage in restoration activities. In the Bosque, fire 

is both a human and a natural disturbance. This 

is because most fires in the Bosque are started 

by humans. Restoration activities are things that 

forest managers do to the land to help an area 

resemble how it functioned in the past (figure 2). 

Restoration is sort of like reconditioning 

an old car or historic home. Some examples 

of these activities are clearing out nonnative 

plants, getting rid of piles of downed trees and 

logs, and planting native plants. Clearing out 

piles of downed trees and logs helps to reduce 

the risk of wildfire because wildfires use the 

downed wood as fuel to keep burning. 

Restoration activities have an impact on 

many different things like animals, plants, and 

soil. In this study, the scientists wanted to 

know how the restoration activities affected 

snake populations. Snakes are important to 

the ecosystem because they are predators of 

different vertebrates and invertebrates. The 

scientists also wanted to find out what types 

of snakes were in the Bosque and what type of 

trap was better for catching snakes.

Figure 1. The Bosque is a riparian forested 

strip along the Rio Grande.
61

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 3. The Middle Rio Grande runs through 

New Mexico.

Figure 4. The location of the areas studied by 

the scientists.

Figure 5. An area filled with native plants.

Photo by Arthur E. Miller, Forest Service, 

courtesy of http://Bugwood.org.

Reflection Section

b	 What are the questions the scientistswanted

to answer?

b	 Iftherewere fewer snakes in the ecosystem,

what do you thinkwould happen to the

populations of vertebrates and invertebrates?

Methods

The scientists examined the Bosque near the 

Middle Rio Grande in New Mexico (figure 3). 

The climate in this area ranges from arid to 

semiarid. The scientists monitored the snakes at 12 

sites in this area from 2000 to 2006. They studied 

four sites in each of three different regions (figure 

4). One site in every region was used as a control. 

In the control sites, no restoration activities were 

conducted. In the other sites, crews removed 

nonnative plants, burned piles of slash, and planted 

native shrubs (figure 5). Slash is the leftover tree 

and shrub parts from forest management activities 

such as thinning, pruning, and harvesting. The 

areas where downed wood, logs, and nonnative 

plants were removed were more open (figure 6). 

Figure 6. This southeastern forest is open along 

the forest floor.
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Figure 7. A pitfall trap can be a 5-gallon 

bucket placed into the ground so that 

animals fall into it.

Figure 8. Dr. Heather Bateman checks a 

funnel trap near drift fences for snakes. Drift 

fences help to direct animals toward the traps.

Figure 9. The total number of each type of snake captured each year.

Reflection Section

b	 Look atfigures 7 and 8.Which trap do you

thinkwouldwork bestfor capturing snakes?

Why? 

b	 Why do you think scientists had a control area

in every region?

To discover how snake populations were by 

affected these activities, the scientists used drift 

fences, pitfall traps, and funnel traps to capture the 

snakes (figures 7-8). The traps were used from 

June through mid-September every year. After 

the snakes were captured, counted, and identified, 

they were released back into the environment.

Findings

The scientists captured and released a total of 158 snakes from 2000 through 2006. The top five 

snakes caught are shown in the chart below (figure 9). The Common King snake was the most 

frequently captured snake (figure 10).

Snake Type 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total

Common King snake 5 11 1 6 7 10 7 47

Gopher snake 0 4 0 9 5 10 1 29

Plains Black-headed snake 1 3 0 0 6 6 5 21

Plain hog-nosed snake 2 3 1 3 2 2 1 14

Common Garter snake 2 2 0 1 1 4 3 13
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Figure 10. The Common King snake, 

Lampropeltis getula, is often found on the 

ground but is an excellent climber and 

swimmer as well.

Figure 11. Coachwhip snakes can be very 

long. Some of these snakes can be 8 feet in 

length. Photo by John (J.D.) Willson.

Figure 12. The Plains Black-headed Snake is 

a secretive snake, so the exact distribution of 

this snake is not known. However, it has been 

found in Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado, New 

Mexico, and Arizona.

Reflection Section

b	 Look atthe pictures ofthe funneltraps and

pitfalltraps (figure 7 and 8).Why do you think

thatfunneltraps capturedmore snakes?

b Do you think itis importantforthe scientists

to use pitfalltraps?Why orwhy not?

The scientists found that restoration 

activities did not have an effect on the number 

of snakes captured. They also found that more 

snakes were captured with funnel traps than 

with pitfall traps. More than half of all snakes 

captured were captured in funnel traps. Larger 

snakes like the Coachwhips and Gopher snakes 

were also captured more often in funnel traps 

(figure 11). The smallest snake species in this 

study, the Plains Black-headed Snake, was 

found most often in pitfall traps (figure 12).

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany total snakes do the topfive

snakes captured accountfor?

Discussion

This study examined the effect of restoration 

activities on snake populations. Scientists 

found that restoration activities did not affect 

how many snakes were captured. However, 

the snakes captured did change depending on 

the time period and region in the Middle Rio 

Grande. Some summers were drier summers, 

which may have had an effect on the number of 

snakes captured. 
64

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

This article is adapted from Bateman, H.; Chung-MacCoubrey, A.; Snell, 

H.; and Finch, D. (2009). Abundance and species richness of snakes along the 

Middle Rio Grande riparian forest in New Mexico. Herpetological Conservation 

and Biology. 4(1): 1–8.

Reflection Section

b	 Based on the scientists’findings,do you think

this study should be done again at a later

date?Why orwhy not? 

b	 Based on the results ofthis study, do you think

thatrestoration activity to reduce the chance

ofwildfire in the Bosque is a good thing for

snakes?Why orwhy not?

Glossary

Arid (ˈer-əd): An area that is extremely dry with 

little rainfall.

Bosque (ˈbäsk): Wooded areas near water or 

wetland areas.

Climate (ˈklī-mət): The average condition of

 the weather over large areas, over a long time, 

or both.

Conserve (kən-ˈsərv): To avoid wasteful or 

destructive use of something.

Control (kən-ˈtrōl): A control is something 

used for comparison when checking the results 

of an experiment.

Ecosystem (ē-kō-sis-təm): Community of plant 

and animal species interacting with one another 

and with the nonliving environment.

Forest manager (ˈfȯr-əst ˈma-ni-jər): Skilled 

individual who takes care of natural resources.

Headwaters (ˈhed-ˌwȯ-tərs): The source of a 

stream or river.

Herpetologist (ˌhər-pə-ˈtä-lə-jist): A person who 

studies reptiles and amphibians.

Interpret (in-ˈtər-prət): To help explain something.

Invertebrate ((ˌ)in-ˈvər-tə-brət): An animal 

lacking a backbone.

Native (ˈnā-tiv): Naturally occurring in an area.

Ornithologist (ˌȯr-nə-ˈthä-lə-jist): A person who 

studies birds.

Pinyon-juniper woodland (ˈpin-ˌyōn ˈjü-nəpər ˈwud-lənd): An area higher in elevation than 

the Bosque where pinyon pine trees and juniper 

flourish. Pinyon pine and juniper are well adapted 

to drought conditions and cold. For more 

information visit http://cpluhna.nau.edu/Biota/

pinyon-juniper.htm.

Prune (ˈprün): To cut away or cut back parts of 

a plant to promote growth or better shape.

Restoration (ˌres-tə-ˈrā-shən): Bringing back to a 

former condition.

Riparian (rə-ˈper-ē-ən): Areas along streams 

and rivers.

Vertebrate (ˈvər-tə-brət): An animal with a 

backbone. Examples include mammals, birds, 

reptiles, and fish.

Wilderness (ˈwil-dər-nəs): Area designated by 

Congress to be preserved in a wild and natural 

condition as part of the National Wilderness 

Preservation System.

Accented syllables are in bold. Marks taken from 

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Guide.

The scientists noted that their results need 

to be interpreted carefully because the overall 

number of snakes captured was low. The native

habitat may not have been fully restored yet, and 

the weather could have affected the number of 

snakes captured.

The scientists also found that funnel traps 

were more effective than pitfall traps in capturing 

snakes. Additionally, they found that funnel 

traps were better able to capture larger snakes. 

Therefore, populations of large snakes could be 

underestimated if scientists use only pitfall traps. 

The scientists recommended using both types of 

traps with drift fencing in future studies. 
65

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

FACTivity

Time needed:

Three class periods

Materials needed:

16-ounce plastic cups, landscape fabric 

(or some type of thin material that can be 

used to make the drift fence)

The question you will answer in this 

FACTivity is: What types of insects live on 

the grounds of our school?

Procedure:

You will do an experiment similar to 

what the scientists did in this article, except 

you will be studying insects on the ground 

instead of snakes. First, your teacher will 

break your class into small groups of three 

or four students. Each group will take a 

section of the schoolyard to monitor for 

ground-level insects. Once students have 

divided up the schoolyard into sections for 

each group, the groups will make two pitfall 

traps and two drift fences.

To make the pitfall traps, use two 

16-ounce cups. Dig a hole and place each 

cup into the hole so that the lip of the cup 

is level with the ground. After the two cups 

are in the ground, use the material to make 

a drift fence toward the cup. Each drift 

fence should be 2 feet long and 1 foot high.

Check the traps several times a day and 

record the number of insects in the trap 

and what kind of insect it is or a general 

description of the insect. NOTE: Make sure 

that no one hurts the insects or touches 

them. Use eyes only to observe the 

insects. After recording, empty the cup of 

insects in another part of the schoolyard.

Following a day’s worth of observation, 

compare results with the class and 

discuss. Some questions to help guide the 

discussion are:

1. What types of insects did you see 

the most? Was this surprising? Why 

or why not?

2. What is the problem with this type of 

trap and obtaining information about 

insects? 

3. Was it easy or hard to make the 

traps and then monitor them? What 

challenges did you have?

4. If you were to make this experiment 

better, what kind of experiment would 

you design to find out what insects 

live on the grounds of your school?

Teachers: If you are a PLTtrained educator, you may use 

Activity #81, “Living With Fire,” 

and #22, “Trees As Habitats,” 

as additional resources. 
66

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

National Science 

Education Standards

addressed in this 

article:

Science as Inquiry: 

 Abilities To Do Scientific Inquiry; 

 Understandings About Scientific Inquiry

Life Science: 

 Populations and Ecosystems

Science in Personal and 

Social Perspectives: 

 Populations, Resources, and Environments; 

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risks and Benefits

History and Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science

Additional Web 

Resources

Joint Fire Sciences Program: Fuels Reduction and 

Restoration in the Bosque of the Middle Rio Grande 

http://www.firescience.gov/projects/01-1-3-19/

supdocs/01-1-3-19_01-1-3-19_FSbrief7.pdf

Fire in the Bosque

http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/BEG/ActivityPages/

Ch6_FireintheBosque.pdf

Bosque Restoration Projects (U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers)

http://www.bosquerevive.com/index.htm

Middle Rio Grande Bosque Initiative 

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/mrgbi/index.html

Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species 

Collaborative Program 

http://www.middleriogrande.com

Common Kingsnake Information 

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/

information/Lampropeltis_getula.html

University of Nebraska Coachwhip Snake page 

http://snr.unl.edu/herpneb/snake/Coachwhip.html

Gopher snake information 

http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/bio/reptile/serp/pica/

picafram.htm
Don’t Judge a Soil

 by Its Color: 

Exploring Forest Soil 

Following a Wildfire

Photo by Kari Greer, National Interagency Fire Center.
68

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Meet the Scientists

Ms. Cassie Hebel, Soil 

Scientist: My favorite science 

experience is studying mycology

(mī-ˈkä-lə-jē) and learning to identify 

all types of mushrooms. It is fun to 

look inside the wonderful kingdom of 

fungi. From the smallest underground 

truffle forming mycorrhizal (ˌmī-kə-ˈrīzəl) connections on plant roots to the 

largest conk decomposing dead logs, 

they are all fascinating. t

Dr. Jane E. Smith, Research Botanist: 

My most awe-inspiring moment as a scientist 

came when walking deep into an old-growth 

forest just a few weeks after a severe wildfire 

had killed all of the trees. The blackened trees 

towered in stark 

contrast against 

a background of 

reddish soil, which 

had practically no 

vegetation. The giant 

dark pillars towered 

in eerie silence.

What for 

many might have 

been seen as 

devastation was 

somehow strikingly 

beautiful and powerfully exciting! Long 

red areas marked the previous location of 

logs, completely removed by the fire. Was 

there life in the soil? When would the soil 

microorganisms, important to forest life 

aboveground, return? We were mesmerized 

by the power of nature and inspired by this 

research opportunity.

Thinking About 

Science

To become a research scientist, you must 

attend college and earn a series of academic 

degrees. After 4 or more years in college, you 

could earn a bachelor’s (ˈbach-lərz) degree. A 

master’s degree follows, usually after 2 to 3 more 

years of study. Finally, you may earn a doctoral 

degree, commonly called a Ph.D. (Ph.D. stands 

for Doctor of Philosophy (fə lä sə fē)). 

It could take up to 4 more years to earn a 

Ph.D. For every year of study, a student becomes 

more expert in a particular area of study. One 

can become an expert in almost 

any area—from art to zoology. 

To earn a masters or doctoral 

degree, most students must do 

a research study. For a master’s 

degree, this study is called a 

thesis (ˈthē-səs). 

The research in this study was done by a 

student earning her master’s degree. The student 

learned that asking research questions and solving 

them was fun for her. If you are interested in 

learning new things, you might discover that you 

like to ask and solve research questions too!
69

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Thinking About the Environment

Do you ever think about what happens underground? The soil is a world about which we 

seldom think. It is a busy place, full of microscopic organisms, including bacteria and fungi. 

Bacteria and fungi are decomposers. Decomposers break down dead and decaying material. 

They recycle once-living and nonliving material and make it available for other organisms to 

use. Bacteria live everywhere on Earth where life is possible. 

You have probably seen the fruits of some fungi on the ground or growing on tree 

trunks. Did you know that some fungi live on the underground roots of plants? These 

fungi, called mycorrhizal fungi, have an interesting relationship with plant roots. These fungi need plant 

roots to live, and plant roots need the fungi. Plants create carbon as they photosynthesize, and some of 

the carbon is sent to the plant’s roots. Plant roots then provide carbon to the fungi. The fungi help the 

plant take in mineral nutrients, such as phosphorus, from the soil. 

In this study, the scientists were interested in learning about what happens to mycorrhizal fungi 

after a forest fire. They wanted to know what happens when a fire burns large pieces of wood on the 

ground, causing the soil to be intensely heated. They also wondered how this would affect the growth 

of new plants following the wildfire.

Introduction

When a wildfire burns across a forest, logs 

and stumps on the ground may completely burn 

up. When this happens the soil beneath and 

near the logs and stumps is intensely heated. 

Soils heated in this way turn a light red color 

(figure 1). These soils, not surprisingly, are 

called “red soils” by soil scientists. 

Scientists know that red soils have been 

damaged by fire. Bacteria and fungi are killed, 

and the chemical properties of the soils change. 

During a wildfire, the soils that did not have logs 

Figure 1. This is an area that had recently 

experienced a wildfire. Notice the different 

colors of the soil. The strips of lighter color are 

the red soils. They are in strips because a log 

completely burned, causing the soil beneath it to 

be intensely heated. Most of the soils, however, 

are black soils. Photo by Garrett Meigs. 

Reflection Section

b	 Explainwhy red soils are eitherfound in strips

orin round shapes following awildfire.Do

you think thatmore area is in red soils or black

soils following awildfire?Why? 

b	If nonnative invasiveplants growmore rapidly

than native plants, howmightmycorrhizal

fungi be involvedwith this process?

or stumps do not get as hot. The fire may burn 

shrubs and small trees, but the fire passes through 

quickly without hurting the soil. Soil scientists call 

these soils “black soils.”

Many scientists believe that, following a 

wildfire, nonnative invasive plants are likely to 

spread into the area. This might happen because 

the burned area is cleared of native plants, 

opening it for invasive plants. Invasive plants can 

spread and grow rapidly, which means that their 

roots may grow rapidly as well. 

The scientists in this study wanted to answer 

two questions: (1) What are the differences, if 

any, between the growth of nonnative invasive 

species and the growth of native species in red 

and black soils following a wildfire? (2) What 

happens to mycorrhizal fungi following a wildfire?
70

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Methods

The study was done in Oregon, in an area 

that had experienced a wildfire in the summer of 

2003 (figure 2). This fire burned 36,733 hectares 

of forest. 

In 2004, the scientists collected samples of red 

soil and black soil from 10 areas. They selected 

these areas randomly. The scientists collected the 

samples in pairs, so that each pair of red and black 

soil had been collected less than 1 meter apart. 

Each soil sample weighed at least 6.5 kg, and was 

taken from the top 5 centimeters of soil.

The scientists collected seeds from three native 

plant species and three invasive plants species that 

could grow in the area (figures 3 and 4). They 

germinated the seeds and planted the seedlings in 

plastic pots. Each of the pots was filled with one 

of the soil samples. The seedlings were placed in a 

special room in a laboratory and allowed to grow 

for 10 weeks (figure 5).

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany acres burned in theDeschutes

NationalForestin 2003?Multiply 36,733 by

2.47 to find out.

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany total soil samples did the

scientists collect?Howheavy in poundswas

each soil sample?Multiply 6.5 by 2.20to find

out.Howdeep in inches is 5 centimeters?

Multiply 5 by0.394 to find out.

Figure 3. One of the native plant species 

studied was snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus).

Photo by Dave Powell, courtesy of http://

Invasives.org.

Figure 4. One of the nonnative invasive 

plant species studied was spotted knapweed 

(Centaurea maculosa). Photo by James H. Miller, 

Forest Service, courtesy of http://Bugwood.org.

Figure 2. The study was done in the Deschutes 

(dā-ˈshüt) National Forest in Oregon.
71

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Findings

The seedlings grown in red soil had fewer 

fungi growing on their roots than seedlings grown 

in black soil. This was true of both native and 

invasive plants. Invasive plants grown in red soil 

had between 79 and 98 percent fewer fungi 

growing on their roots than plants growing in 

black soil. Native plants grown in red soil had 

between 61 percent and 98 percent fewer fungi 

growing on their roots than native plants growing 

in black soil. 

Two years after the wildfire, the scientists 

found that areas with red soil had 50 percent less 

plant cover than areas with black soil. They found 

no invasive species growing in the area.

After 10 weeks, the scientists cleaned off the 

roots of all seedlings and stained them with a 

special dye. Using a special microscope, the roots 

were examined (figure 6). The percentage of 

each root with mycorrhizal fungi was recorded.

In July 2005, the scientists went back to the 

10 sites where the soil sample pairs had been 

collected. The type of plants growing on each 

of the 20 sites was identified and recorded.

Number Crunches

b	 Howmany total seedlingswere growing in

the pots?

Figure 5. The seedlings were grown for 10 

weeks in a special room. Photo by Cassie Hebel.

Figure 6. The roots were examined using a 

special microscope. 

Reflection Section

b	 Why do you think the scientists only took

samples fromthe top5 centimeters of soil?

b	 Why did the scientistswait a yearto go back

and identify the species of plants growing in

the red and black soils? 

Reflection Section

b	 Why do you think plants growing in red soil

had fewerfungi growing on theirroots than

plants growing in black soil? 

b	 What effect didwildfire have on the

growth of newplants in some ofthe areas

thatwere burned?
72

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Discussion

The scientists wondered why they found 

no invasive species in the areas they studied 2 

years after the wildfire. One reason may be that 

there were few nonnative invasive species in the 

area before the fire. This would have limited the 

source of nonnative invasive plant seeds. Another 

explanation may be that nonnative invasive 

species are not able to compete well with native 

species in areas where a wildfire has severely 

heated the soil. 

The scientists found that areas of forest that 

have a lot of logs and stumps may not recover 

as quickly after a wildfire. Plants that grow well 

in soils that have been heated by fire may be the 

first to take root and grow in red soils. In the 

first years after a fire, the type of native plants 

growing may be different than before the wildfire. 

When wildfire severely heats the top layer of soil 

and the roots found there, it appears to harm the 

fungi that were living on the roots. 

Reflection Section

b	 Iflogs and stumps on the ground cause a

slowerrecovery of a forestfollowingwildfire,

should the logs and stumps be removed?

Why orwhy not?

b	 Do you think the fungiwill ever come back to

the areas ofred soil?Why orwhy not?

Adapted from Hebel, C.; Smith, J.E.; and Kermit, C., Jr. 2009. Invasive plant 

species and soil microbial response to wildfire burn severity in the Cascade 

Range of Oregon, Applied Soil Ecology. 42: 150-159. http://www.treesearch.

fs.fed.us/pubs/34600. 

Glossary

Academic (ˌa-kə-ˈde-mik): Having to 

do with an institution of learning.

Fledgling (ˈflej-liŋ): An inexperienced person.

Inquisitive (in-ˈkwi-zə-tiv): Inclined to 

ask questions.

Invasive (in-ˈvā-siv): Tending to spread or 

infringe upon.

Microorganism (ˈmī-(ˌ)krō-ˈȯr-gə-ˌni-zəm): 

An organism or life form of microscopic size.

Microscopic (ˌmī-krə-ˈskä-pik): Invisible or 

nearly so without the use of a microscope.

Mycology (mī-ˈkä-lə-jē): The study of fungi.

Mycorrhizal (ˌmī-kə-ˈrī-zəl): The cooperative 

relationship between a fungus and the roots 

of a plant.

Native (ˈnā-tiv): Naturally occurring in an area.

Nonnative ((ˈ)nän-ˈnā-tiv): Not naturally 

occurring in an area.

Randomly (ˈran-dəm-lē): A way of selecting a 

smaller number from a group in such a way that 

all members of the group have the same chance 

of being selected.

Sample (ˈsam-pəl): A part or piece that shows 

what the whole group or thing is like.

Species (ˈspē-(ˌ)shēz): Groups of organisms that 

resemble one another in appearance, behavior, 

chemical processes, and genetic structure.

Accented syllables are in bold. Marks taken from 

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation Guide.
73

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

FACTivity

This FACTivity was adapted from http://www.soil-net.com. 

The question to be answered in this 

FACTivity is: What are some of the things 

that make up soil?

The procedure to be used to answer 

the question is an adaptation of the game 

Sudoko. This is Soildoko! Complete the 

Soildoko puzzle below by filling in the blank 

spaces. Six different things that make up 

soil are listed in the puzzle. In each row 

and column of the puzzle, each of the six 

should appear only once. After the puzzle 

is finished, the answer to the question 

should be obvious. What are some of the 

things that make up soil?

Teachers: If you are a PLTtrained educator, you may 

use Activity #24, “Nature’s 

Recyclers,” and #80, “Nothing 

Succeeds Like Succession,” as 

additional resources.

Bacteria 

and Fungi

Clay, Silt, 

and Sand Water Minerals

Air Bacteria 

and Fungi

Animals 

and Plants

Clay, Silt, 

and Sand Water Minerals Bacteria 

and Fungi

Water Clay, Silt, 

and Sand

Water Minerals Clay, Silt, 

and Sand

Bacteria 

and Fungi

Clay, Silt, 

and Sand

Animals 

and Plants Air

Additional Web 

Resources

National Science and Technology Center: 

Mycorrhizal Fungi 

http://www.blm.gov/nstc/soil/fungi/index.html

Benefits of Soil Microbes

http://www.rivenrock.com/soilmicrobes.htm

National Science 

Education Standards

Science as Inquiry: 

 Abilities Necessary To Do Scientific Inquiry; 

 Understanding About Scientific Inquiry 

Life Science: 

 Structure & Function in Living Systems; 

 Populations and Ecosystems; 

 Reproduction and Heredity; 

 Diversity and Adaptation of Organisms 

Science in Personal & Social Perspectives: 

 Populations, Resources, and Environments; 

 Natural Hazards; 

 Risk & Benefits 

History & Nature of Science: 

 Science as a Human Endeavor; 

 Nature of Science 
74

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

trees special bristlecone are pine

fungi decomposers are and bacteria

seldom the soil a world about is think we which

at their scientists surprised the findings were

about just can anything scientists study

friends your at think school about

consider should and the people past carefully from learn

do people and study social think scientists what believe

examination is example of detailed a one study case a

individual history as you have an own your

research is historian in happened writes the individual past a who an about does and events that

Puzzle answers on page 84.

Sentenced!

Unscramble the words in each line to create a sentence from the 

Natural Inquirer Wildland Fire edition.
75

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Puzzle answers on page 84.

Who Or What Am I

(All of these can be found in the Natural Inquirer Wildland Fire edition.)

?

? ?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

I was established in 1905 to manage forest reserves. ____________________________________________

I am placed into the ground by a scientist._____________________________________________________

Scientists have discovered over 1,170,000 of my species. ________________________________________

I am a research study completed as part of a master’s degree. ____________________________________

I am part of Earth where life can exist. _______________________________________________________

I form the border between Texas and Mexico. ________________________________________________

I study reptiles and amphibians. _____________________________________________________________

I am used for comparison when checking the results of an experiment. ____________________________

I am invisible and I am one of the ingredients of soil. ____________________________________________

I study what people do, think, and believe. ____________________________________________________

I am a statement of an observation, usually about the relationship of one thing to another. ____________

________________________________________________________________________________________

I am an area where houses either meet or mix with wildland vegetation. __________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

I am on the ground, and I help young bristlecone pine trees to grow. ______________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

I am a complicated emotion that involves shared values. ________________________________________

I am a small and secretive snake. ____________________________________________________________

?? ??
76

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

As teachers of science, you want your 

students to acquire abilities that will 

enable them to conduct scientific inquiry, 

and you want them to gain an understanding 

of the scientific inquiry process. Scientific 

inquiry can best be taught by integrating 

minds-on and hands-on experiences. Over 

time, such experiences encourage students 

to independently formulate and seek answers 

to questions about the world we live in. As 

educators, you are constantly faced with 

engaging your students in scientific inquiry in 

new and different ways. In an age of abundant 

technology, standard teaching strategies can 

become monotonous to today’s learners. The 

Natural Inquirer provides a fresh approach to 

science and a view of the outside world that is 

larger than the classroom and can still be used 

while in the school setting. 

The Natural Inquirer is a science education 

resource journal to be used with learners from 

Grade 5 and up. The Natural Inquirer is written 

at the 7th grade level, but students from grade 

5 upward have found the articles useful. The 

Natural Inquirer contains articles describing 

environmental and natural resource research 

conducted by Forest Service scientists and 

their research cooperators. These are scientific 

journal articles that have been reformatted to 

meet the needs of middle school students. The 

articles are easy to understand, aesthetically 

pleasing to the eye, contain glossaries, and 

include hands-on activities. The goal of the 

Natural Inquirer is to stimulate critical reading 

and thinking about scientific inquiry and 

investigation while learning about ecology, the 

natural environment, and natural resources.

Note to Educators

The Format of a

Natural Inquirer 

Article

Each Natural Inquirer article follows the same 

format. Natural Inquirer articles are written 

directly from a published science article, and 

all have been reviewed by the scientists for 

accuracy. Each article contains the following 

sections, which you may introduce to your 

students as they read:

Meet the Scientists: Introduces students to 

the scientists who did the research. Can be 

used in a discussion of careers in science.

Thinking About Science: Introduces 

something about the scientific process, such 

as a scientific habit of mind, or procedures 

used in scientific studies.

Thinking About the Environment:

Introduces the environmental topic being 

addressed in the research.

Introduction: Introduces the problem or 

question being addressed by the research.

Method: Describes the method used by the 

scientists to collect and analyze their data.

Findings: Describes the results of the analysis.

Discussion: Discusses the findings and places 

them into the context of the original problem 

or question. 

Citation: Gives the original article citation. 

Glossary: Introduces possibly new scientific or 

other terms to students. The first occurrence 

of a glossary word is bold in the text.

FACTivity: This is a hands-on activity that 

reinforces an aspect of the research.
77

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Science Education 

Standards

and Evaluations

In the back of the journal, you will find a 

list that allows you to identify articles by the 

National Science Education Standards they 

address. You and your students may also 

complete evaluation forms online by visiting 

http://www.naturalinquirer.org.

If you have any questions or comments, 

please contact:

Dr. Barbara McDonald

Forest Service

320 Green St.

Athens, GA 30602-2044

706.559.4224

bmcdonald@fs.fed.us

(Please put “Educator Feedback”

in the subject line)

Educator Resources

Visit the Natural Inquirer Web site at

http://www.naturalinquirer.org. From this 

site, you can read and download lesson plans, 

word games, and other resources to help you 

use the Natural Inquirer in your classroom. You 

can view and download a year-long lesson plan 

aimed at helping your students learn about the 

scientific process, or a number of generic lesson 

plans that can be used with any Natural Inquirer 

article.
78

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Lesson Plan #1

Day 2:

Show students the template for writing a 

letter. In their small groups (or individually), 

have them compose a letter to the first scientist 

listed in the “Meet the Scientist” section. 

Hold a class discussion about:

1. The questions they had for the 

scientist. Why did they ask the 

questions they asked? 

2. The process of writing a letter to a 

scientist. What are the advantages of 

writing a proper letter, rather than a 

text message or an email? Are there 

any disadvantages?

3. What did students learn from reading 

their article? Have students tell the 

class in rapid fire format. 

Collect their letters and use the rubric on 

page 81 for evaluation.

If students would like to submit their letters, 

they may either send their hard copy letters to:

Natural Inquirer Scientist Letters

Forest Service

320 Green St.

Athens, GA 30602-2044

OR, they may send letters electronically to 

jessica@naturalinquirer.org. 

Note: While the Natural Inquirer staff will 

attempt to answer questions sent in to our 

office, we cannot guarantee that all questions 

will be answered. If letters are sent hard copy, 

please include an email address so that we may 

reply electronically.

Note: This lesson plan can be used with 

any Natural Inquirer article.

Learning Objectives: 

Students will increase:

(a) science reading comprehension,

(b) question-posing ability, and 

(c) letter writing skills regarding science.

In small groups (or individually), students will 

read a Natural Inquirer article and write a letter 

to the scientist, asking for clarification on at 

least four questions.

In advance, make copies, or load onto 

the white board, the letter template given 

(at right).

Amount of time 

needed: 

Two class periods (90 minutes)

Materials needed: 

Lined paper and pencils for students 

Natural Inquirer article

Graphic organizer (Page 80)

Day 1:

In small groups (or individually), have students 

read one of the Natural Inquirer articles. You 

may allow them to select an article, or you may 

assign one. Students may take turns reading 

paragraphs out loud. Depending on the amount 

of time available, they may skip the Reflection 

Sections. As students finish each section, have 

them write a summary of what they have read 

in the graphic organizer. After they have read 

and summarized all sections, have them write 

any questions that they have thought of for each 

section, using the graphic organizer.
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Students’ names

Teacher’s name (e.g., Mrs. Jones’ 7th grade science class)

School name

School address (City, State, ZIP)

Date

Scientist Full Name (with title)

Scientist Affiliation 

City, State 

(If you are able to access the Internet, the scientist’s exact address may be searched)

Dear [Title] [Scientist’s last name]:

First Paragraph: Students should explain that they read [Article name] in the 

Natural Inquirer. After reading the article, they developed four questions that they 

would like to ask. This paragraph should be 4 to 5 sentences long.

Middle Paragraph(s): Students should provide the context for their questions and 

ask them. The context includes: (a) which article section the question concerns and 

(b) what about the article information prompted the question. Students may decide to 

write four small paragraphs, one for each question.

Ending Paragraph: Students should thank the scientist and note that they look 

forward to a reply.

Closing (such as Respectfully yours, Sincerely, etc.)

Student names and signatures
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Student Name(s):_____________________________________________________________

Natural Inquirer Graphic Organizer

Summary 

Introduction Methods

Findings Discussion

Questions

Introduction Methods

Findings Discussion
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Poor

1

Fair

2

Good/

Satisfactory

3

Exemplary

4 Score

Questions to 

Scientist

Included only 

one question 

for scientist

Included only 

two questions 

for scientist

Included 

only three 

questions for 

scientist

All four 

questions 

included

Heading Not at all in 

proper form

Partially in 

proper form

Almost in 

proper form

Completely in 

proper form

First Paragraph

Not at all in 

proper form, 

length, or 

context

Partially in 

proper form, 

length, and 

context

Almost in 

proper form, 

length, and 

content

Completely in 

proper form, 

length, and 

context

Middle 

Paragraphs

Not at all in 

proper form, 

length, and 

context

Partially in 

proper form, 

length, and 

context

Almost in 

proper form, 

length, and 

context 

Completely in 

proper form, 

length, and 

context

Grammar/ 

Punctuation

Too many 

grammatical/ 

punctuation 

errors

Needed to 

demonstrate 

better use of 

punctuation 

and grammar

Proper use of 

grammar and 

punctuation, 

few errors

No 

grammatical 

or punctuation 

errors

Final

Paragraph

Did not 

complete final 

paragraph

Partially 

completed final 

paragraph

Thanked 

scientist/

Needed 

improvement 

in final 

paragraph

Properly 

thanked 

scientist and 

ended letter

Closing

Did not 

complete or 

not at all in 

proper form

Partially in 

proper form

Almost in 

proper form

Completely in 

proper form

Assessment Rubric
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Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Lesson Plan #2: Forest Poems

Oh! Wonderful Horse by H. R. Elliott

Oh horse you are a wonderful thing, no buttons 

to push, no horns to ring, you start yourself, 

no clutch to slip, no spark to miss, no gears to 

strip, no license buying every year with plates to 

screw on front and rear, no gas bills climbing up 

each day stealing the joy of life away. No speed 

cops chugging in your rear yelling summons 

in your ear. Your inner tubes are all O.K. and 

thank the Lord they stay that way, your spark 

plugs never miss and fuss, your motor never 

makes us cuss. Your frame is good for many a 

mile, your body never changes its style. Your 

wants are few and easy met, you’ve something 

on the auto yet. 

The Forester’s Life, no author given

The forester’s life is full of ease;

A timber famine he foresees;

He tries to warn the he’s and she’s

Who will not listen to his pleas.

Then he gets down upon his knees

And plants the seed to grow the trees;

Their life he fondly oversees,

And talks about their pedigrees.

The people learn by slow degrees,

By ones, and twos, and even threes.

Then they, too hold some jubilees

And follow up with planting-bees.

‘Tis only then the famine flees.

Why don’t you plant some little trees?

Note: This lesson plan may be used after 

reading any one of the articles in any 

Natural Inquirer.

The purpose of this lesson plan is to give 

students a chance to reflect on their reading and 

create poems to express what they have learned. 

To create their poems, students will need 

paper and pencil.

Follow the reading guide and graphic 

organizer from the previous lesson plan. After 

students have read their article and formulated 

summaries and questions, they will read one or 

more of the following poems. These poems are 

from Guthrie, John. 1929. Forest fire and other 

verse, the American Forestry Association, 3rd 

printing (1935).

Begin with a discussion of the publication 

date of these poems. Students should be aware 

that the poems were written at least 80 years 

ago, and life was much different then. After 

reading each poem, students should answer 

the following:

A. List three things the author said that 

you think are important.

B. Why do you think this poem was 

written?

C. What evidence in the poem helps you 

know why it was written? Quote from 

the poem.

D. List two things the poem tells you about 

life in the United States at the 

time it was written.

E. Write a question to the author that is 

left unanswered by the poem.
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Our Forests by Charles Allen

A safe retreat from summer’s heat

Fresh green on winter’s snow

Our forests stand in stalwart band

To greet the folks who know.

To weary souls they’re restful goals

On nerves distraught with care

They spread a balm of soothing calm 

No doctor can prepare.

Quite free to all who heed the call, 

Supreme in scenic lure,

Their verdant arms outflung with charms

Inviting, safe, secure.

The Bargain of Forest and Stream by 

A. G. Jackson

The streams and the woods made a bargain,

That as long as the waters ran,

As long as the trees grew skyward

They’d follow this helpful plan:

The trees would shelter the rivers

And hold their flood-waters back.

The rivers would nourish the forest

And see that it ne’er would lack.

You never will have a river,

Steady and sure in its flow,

Unless in its upper reaches

Trees verdant and helpful grow.

And ne’er will you find a forest,

Wide and refreshing and grand,

Unless it is nourished by rivers

That flow through, renewing the land.

And man, who destroys the timber,

Leaving the mountain slopes bare,

Wonders what dried up the rivers

That once ran steadily there. 

The Magic Change by Mrs. (Ranger) 

Dewey S. Wright

I do not know my world today,

The summer sun has gone away,

The touch of fall is in the air,

It can be seen now everywhere.

Close here at hand some poplars rise

And rear their heads up to the skies.

But yesterday their clothes were green,

But now today—a golden sheen.

A magic hand has dealt to vine

I knew so well in summer time,

A color one can scarce describe

And stand close there by its side

The sumac that could not withstand

The artist with the faultless hand.

He with deft touch from foot to head

Has changed it to a crimson red.

The only things familiar now

Are standing on the mountain’s brow,

The little pines so green and fair

Will not be changed by frosty air.
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In a class discussion (or in small groups), 

have students share their answers to the five 

questions. Could this poem have been written 

today? Why or why not?

Have students write a haiku based on the 

Natural Inquirer article they just read. A haiku 

is a Japanese poem that is usually written in 

response to an observation about or within 

nature. A haiku has the following structure:

Three lines

Lines 1 and 3 have five syllables

Line 2 has seven syllables

The lines do not rhyme.

An example to help you remember:

I am first with five

Then seven in the middle—

Five again to end.

Here is a “what am I” haiku example:

Green and speckled legs,

Hop on logs and lily pads

Splash in cool water.

Post student haikus in the hallway. You 

may send the haikus electronically to Jessica@

naturalinquirer.org and we will post them on the 

Natural Inquirer Web site. If you choose to send 

them to the Natural Inquirer, please include the 

name of the Natural Inquirer article that inspired 

the haiku.

Answers to the puzzles

Sentenced!

Bristlecone pine trees are special.

Bacteria and fungi are decomposers.

The soil is a world about which we seldom think.

The scientists were surprised at their findings.

Scientists can study just about anything.

Think about your friends at school.

People should carefully consider and learn from the past.

Social scientists study what people do, think, and believe.

A case study is a detailed examination of one example.

You, as an individual, have our own history.

(As an individual, you have your own history.)

A historian is an individual who does research and 

writes about events that happened in the past.

Who Or What Am I?

Forest Service

Pitfall trap

Arthropods

Thesis

Biosphere

The Rio Grande

Herpetologist

Control

Air

Social Scientist

Hypothesis

Wildland Urban Interface

Nurse object

Trust

Plains Black Headed snake
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Possible Answers to Reflection Questions

Fight or Light

Introduction

• What are the questions the historian 

wanted to explore? What was the impact 

of the 1910 wildfires on fire policy of the Forest 

Service over the next century? Why did those 

fires have such a strong and lasting impact? 

• How do you think the historian 

explored his questions? This is an 

individual question. Students should think 

about what a historian would need to do to 

get answers to his or her questions. Some 

possible answers include interview people 

who either lived through the fires or had some 

other connection to the fires, read newspaper 

accounts, read government documents, and 

look at photographs.

Methods

• Look at the photographs in figures 3 and 

4. What are some of the advantages 

of having photographs if you are a 

historian? Students will need to come up 

with their own answers, and they should 

give logical reasons for their positions. Some 

ideas include that seeing photographs can add 

different information to whatever documents 

are available; photographs sometimes help you 

to understand more fully what happened; and 

photographs might include information that 

was not recorded in writing.

• Historians must write history as 

accurately as possible. A story of 

historical fiction must be clearly 

identified. Why should stories of 

historical fiction be clearly identified 

as such? A story of historical fiction is also 

called a historical novel. Historical novels, 

while based on real events, include events that 

are made up. If a historical novel is not identified 

as such, people may mistakenly believe they are 

reading an accurate account of a historical event.

Findings

• What one thing is still out of the control 

of people in regard to wildfires? The 

weather. 

• How has research helped foresters to do 

a better job of managing fire? Research 

has shown that fire suppression is not the best 

approach to managing wildfires. It has also 

shown that fire is healthy for some forested 

ecosystems. Forest managers can now use fire 

as a tool to reduce the severe impact of large 

wildfires in areas where people live and work.

Discussion

• Before reading this article, did you think 

all wildfires should be put out? All of the 

answers to this and the following questions 

in this reflection question are individual. 

Students should back up their answers with 

logic. How do you think your opinions 

about wildfires have been influenced 

by hearing about wildfires in the news? 

How is the shaping of your opinion 

similar to the reaction to the wildfires of 

1910? How is it different?

• Describe another instance where 

learning about the past can help make 

decisions about the future. This is an 

individual question, and students may come 

up with a number of ideas. Some include the 

American Revolution and the Civil War, or 

the civil rights story of the 1960s. The story of 

invasive plants may also be noted. (People used 

to think that there was no danger in planting 

plants from other countries.) Students may 

come up with local examples.
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aPods Rule!

Introduction

• State the null hypothesis used by the 

scientists. (See “Thinking About 

Science” for a hint.) Here are some possible 

null hypotheses: There is no relationship 

between old logs and the habitat of arthropods 

living in leaf litter after a fire has burned the 

forest floor. After a fire has burned the forest 

floor, old logs are not important to arthropods 

living among the leaf litter. There will not be an 

increase in the number of leaf-litter-dwelling 

arthropods living near old logs, compared with 

those living away from logs, following a fire. 

This last hypothesis is the best, because it brings 

in the idea of measurement. Students may 

come up with similar statements. It is important 

for students to understand that hypotheses are 

made as statements of relationship, and that a 

null hypothesis states the lack of a relationship 

between two variables.

• Is fire a good thing for longleaf pine 

forests? How do you know? Students 

should conclude that fire is a good thing for 

longleaf pine forests because fire is needed 

to open up areas so longleaf pines can grow, 

and longleaf pines have adapted to resist and 

survive fires.

Methods

• Why did the scientists include areas 

that were not burned at all? In many 

experiments, scientists use a control. A 

control gives scientists a way to compare 

their experimental treatments with what 

would happen if they did not do any of the 

experimental treatments.

• Why did the scientists want to collect 

arthropods near the log and away 

from the log? The scientists wanted to see 

if logs provided habitat for leaf-litter-dwelling 

arthropods following a fire. If they did not 

collect arthropods away from the log, they 

would have no way to know if more or fewer 

arthropods were living close to the logs.

Findings

• Do you think the scientists accepted or 

rejected their null hypothesis? Why or 

why not? The scientists had to accept their 

null hypothesis as true, meaning they found no 

relationship between the number of leaf-litterdwelling arthropods and the presence of logs 

following a fire. 

• Do you think this study proves that leaflitter-dwelling arthropods do not use 

logs as habitat after a fire? Why or why 

not? This is an individual question and each 

student must think this through for themselves. 

However, you may challenge students to 

consider other reasons that fewer arthropods 

were collected near the logs.

Discussion

• Is it important to understand what 

happens to arthropods following a fire? 

Why or why not? This is an individual 

question and students should present their 

position in a class discussion.

• What are some advantages of being 

surprised at your findings? Students should 

recognize that, when scientists are surprised 

by their findings, new questions are possible 

that might not have been possible had they 

discovered what they thought they would 

discover. In this case, the scientists may have 

discovered problems with their data collection. 

Alternatively, they may have discovered 

something unexpected about the preferences of 

leaf-litter-dwelling arthropods.

Keeping It Local

Introduction

• State what the scientists wanted to 

know in the form of a question. How do 
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities 

describe and identify the boundaries of their 

WUI in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan?

• How do you think the scientists 

answered their question? Students 

should have been clued in by “Thinking About 

Science.” The scientists interviewed people in 

four communities to answer their question.

Methods

• A case study is a detailed look at one 

individual, one group, or one event. 

Think about something you have studied 

recently. How might you extend your 

examination by doing a case study? 

Who or what would you study? This is an 

individual question. Students should be urged 

to think of how they might learn more about 

something by doing a case study. For example, let’s 

say your class had recently studied earthquakes. A 

case study might be done of one community that 

had recently experienced an earthquake.

• Why would it be important to interview 

a variety of people in the community? 

People living in communities have different 

opinions and experiences. To truly understand 

what happened in the community, many 

different people must be interviewed.

Findings

• Why do you think members of fire 

departments affected the way the 

WUI was defined and described? People 

working in fire departments would have a lot 

of information about fighting fires. They would 

know which areas were at greater risk of a 

wildfire. They would know the conditions of 

the roads and how long it would take for a fire 

engine to reach a fire.

• What was one benefit of having 

community members work together 

to define and describe their WUI? 

Differences of opinions could be discussed, 

and community members could come to an 

agreement. This eventually leads to a better 

plan, which offers better opportunities to protect 

areas from wildfires. 

Discussion

• Think about the large areas of 

undeveloped land in the Western 

United States. Do you think most of 

that land could be considered the WUI? 

Why or why not? Students should realize 

that vast amounts of undeveloped land should 

not be considered the WUI, since by definition 

the WUI includes some buildings.

• Give another example of when getting 

together to discuss something resulted 

in a better plan of action. This is an 

individual question, and students should be 

challenged to think of something in their own 

life or something in the news. An example from 

current events would be worldwide discussions 

about planning for climate change or discussions about developing a nuclear weapons 

reduction plan. An example at the local level is 

community land use planning. In the classroom, 

students may have collectively discussed and 

subsequently planned an event.

Pecking Order

Introduction

• In the form of a question, state what the 

scientists wanted to learn in this study. 

What types of post-fire snag forests were best 

for the Black-backed woodpecker’s foraging? 

• In your own words, describe why a 

keystone species is important. Keystone 

species are important because they provide 

us with an early indicator that something is 

changing in the environment that may cause 

problems for other native species living there. 

• Do you think it is important to improve 

the habitat for keystone species? Why 

or why not? This is an individual question. 
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Students should back up their answers with 

logic. However, it would seem prudent to pay 

attention when the population of a keystone 

species is falling in numbers.

Methods

• Why do you think the scientists noted 

how many snags were in the patches? 

The snags are where the Black-backed 

woodpecker finds food. The scientists wanted 

to know the best conditions for the woodpecker. 

Since the woodpecker forages in these snags, 

the number of snags in each hectare may be 

one of the most important conditions for the 

woodpecker. 

• Do you think it is important that the 

scientists used the same method in 

each patch to record the presence of 

the Black-backed woodpecker? Why 

or why not? Yes, it is important to use the 

same method so that results are reliable and 

are consistent across all of the patches studied. 

Otherwise, they could not be compared.

Findings

• Do you think that the number of large 

snags in each patch was related to the 

number of woodpeckers found there? 

Why or why not? Students should look at 

figure 8 and realize that an unlogged, high-severity 

burn, which is the only patch where Black-backed 

woodpeckers were found, had a much larger 

average number of large snags per hectare.

• Why do you think the woodpeckers 

preferred patches with large snags left 

standing? These patches would have even 

more snags available for foraging than the 

logged patches.

Discussion

• In your own words, describe the habitat 

the Black-backed woodpecker prefers 

for foraging. The Black-backed woodpecker 

prefers patches of high-severity burned areas 

with a lot of snags (preferably large ones). 

• Why is this research useful for forest 

managers? Forest managers can directly 

apply these findings to how they currently 

manage forests that have recently experienced 

a high-severity wildfire if they want to improve 

the foraging ability of the Black-backed 

woodpecker.

Trust Is a Must

Introduction

• Why is trust an important emotion in 

your life? Students should be encouraged 

to explore whom they trust and why this is 

important. Examples of people they may trust 

include parents or guardians, grandparents, siblings 

or other family members, teachers, doctors, friends, 

etc. Explore the advantages of trust, and how one 

must act to gain someone’s trust.

• Do you think that forest managers can 

do a better job if citizens trust them? 

Why or why not? You may also frame this 

question using a trustee such as Congress, the 

Governor, the police, or other similar trustee. 

This question has no right or wrong answer, but 

students should be able to provide reasons for 

their position.

Methods

• Match the six questions in figure 5 

with the three parts of trust in figure 

2. Which of the three parts does each 

question address? This can be used in a 

general class discussion. The answers are: 1: 

Shared values (honesty); 2: Capable of acting 

correctly (capable, effective); 3: Shared values 

(justice, fairness); 4: Shared values (similar 

values); 5: Capable of acting correctly (capable, 

effective); 6: Act on their behalf (trustee 

interested in their well-being). If students have 

different interpretations, allow them to state the 

reasons for their positions. 
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The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

• In today’s society, what are some 

disadvantages of using the telephone to 

ask questions of citizens? Students may come 

up with a host of reasons. Some include: 1: People 

no longer use land lines; 2) People are too busy to 

answer survey questions; 3: The phone may be 

busy or not answered because of caller ID.

Findings

• What are some of the positive things 

citizens had to say about forest 

managers? Citizens feel that forest managers 

are somewhat effective, reliable, and competent 

in managing fires. They think that forest 

managers are honest and care about citizens’ 

needs.

• What are some of the negative things 

citizens had to say about forest 

managers? They do not pay attention to what 

people think, citizens are not entirely confident 

in the way forest managers manage fire, and 

citizens are not completely satisfied with the 

way fire is managed. 

• If you were the scientists, what would 

you tell the forest managers to do to 

increase the level of trust? This is an 

individual question, but students should realize 

that forest managers should pay more attention 

to what people think, should look for ways 

to raise the confidence in their actions, and 

should find out why citizens are not completely 

satisfied with the way fire is managed.

• Although all three parts were 

important, the scientists found that 

“the belief that others are capable 

of acting correctly” was the most 

important part of trust. Based on your 

own experience, which part do you 

think is most important and why? This 

is an individual question, and students should 

be able to back up their position with logic and 

sound reasons.

Discussion

• How can better communication build 

more trust between an individual and 

a trustee? Use an example from your 

own life. This is an individual question, and 

students may be urged to think about how they 

might improve communication to increase trust. 

Students may consider themselves as being the 

trustee, or the person who feels trust.

• Think about any public land close to 

your home. This can be a local park, a 

State park, a national park, or State or 

national forest land. Do you trust the 

managers to do a good job of managing 

the land? Why or why not? This is an 

individual question. Students should provide logic 

and sound reasons to support their position.

Can We Grow Now?

Introduction

• In the form of a question, state what the 

scientists wanted to discover. What are 

the best conditions under which bristlecone pine 

seeds take root and grow?

• Name two things that make it hard for 

Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine trees 

to survive. (1) These trees need occasional 

fire, which opens up areas for seeds to take 

root and seedlings to grow; (2) The trees 

take between 50 and 100 years before they 

produce seeds; (3) The white pine blister rust is 

threatening to kill the trees. 

Methods

• Why did the scientists select their study 

sites randomly? Because the scientists 

needed to make sure that the site selection 

was unbiased. If the scientists selected the sites 

just by choosing them, they could be affecting 

their results through their own preferences. For 

example, they might always select sites with 

more bristlecone pine trees. 
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• Why do you think the scientists 

measured the distance from each 

seedling to other objects? This is an 

individual question. Students should be 

challenged to think critically about why the 

scientists wanted to know if seedlings were 

found close to other objects.

• Why do you think the scientists 

measured the distance from randomly 

selected points to nearby objects? 

Students should be asked to think critically 

about why the scientists would do this. They 

did this so they could determine whether the 

seedlings’ distance to objects was by chance or 

whether seedlings tended to grow closer to other 

objects. The scientists, therefore, compared the 

seedlings’ average distance to objects with the 

average distance from just any other point.

Findings

• Look at figure 10. You can see that 

more bristlecone pine trees were found 

growing in partly burned areas. What 

else does that chart tell you? That 

unburned areas had more trees than completely 

burned areas, and that completely burned areas 

had few trees growing in them.

• Explain the evidence for calling 

boulders, stones, fallen wood, and 

standing tree trunks nurse objects. 

Students should be able to explain that seedlings 

were found growing closer to these objects 

than if they were growing there by chance. 

Therefore, these objects were thought to be 

helpful to the establishment and growth of 

bristlecone pine trees. Nurses are people who 

often help others to regain or maintain their 

health.

Discussion

• Do you think forest managers should use 

fire as a tool to help save the bristlecone 

pine? Why or why not? Students should 

realize that fire can be used as a tool to help 

save the bristlecone pine. You may also hold a 

discussion about whether fire should be used as 

a tool to protect natural resources. (Note that 

forest managers purposely use fire to promote or 

maintain the health of forests.)

• Name other ways that objects such 

as boulders, stones, fallen trees, and 

standing tree trunks provide benefits 

to the natural environment, anywhere 

they are found. These objects are habitats 

for insects, reptiles, amphibians, and other small 

animals. Tree trunks may be used by woodpeckers, 

owls, and other birds to find food or for nesting. 

As fallen wood decays, it helps to build the soil. 

Students may come up with other ways that these 

objects benefit the natural environment.

Snake, Rattle, and Roll

Introduction

• What are the questions the scientists 

wanted to answer? How do restoration 

activities affect snake populations? What are 

the different types of snakes in the area? What 

type of trap is best for capturing snakes?

• If there were fewer snakes in the 

ecosystem, what do you think 

would happen to the populations 

of vertebrates and invertebrates? 

Populations of vertebrates and invertebrates 

that are prey for snakes may increase if the 

snake population decreases since there would be 

fewer predators.

Methods

• Look at figures 7 and 8. Which trap do 

you think would work best for capturing 

snakes? Why? This is an individual question 

that should be supported with logic and 

reasoning. Long snakes can climb out of the 

pitfall traps.

• Why do you think scientists had a 

control area in every region? Controls 

are used by scientists so that they can compare 
91

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

their findings and see if the treatment is really 

affecting an area rather than something else 

that is not accounted for in the study.

Findings

• Look at the pictures of the funnel traps 

and pitfall traps (figure 7 and 8). Why 

do you think that funnel traps captured 

more snakes? This is an individual question 

that should be supported with logic and 

reasoning.

• Do you think it is important for the 

scientists to use pitfall traps? Why or 

why not? Yes, it is important to use both types 

of traps because the pitfall trap did catch some 

snakes. Without using both types of traps fewer 

snakes would be captured. 

Discussion

• Based on the scientists’ findings, do you 

think this study should be done again 

at a later date? Why or why not? Since 

the scientists were concerned that the overall 

number of snakes captured was low and that 

the native habitat may not have been fully 

restored, it would be a good idea to try to do 

this study again and see what the results are at 

a future time.

• Based on the results of this study, do 

you think that restoration activity to 

reduce the chance of wildfire in the 

Bosque is a good thing for snakes? Why 

or why not? Students should be urged to 

look at the first paragraph of the “Discussion” 

section. It did not appear that snakes were 

affected positively or negatively by restoration 

activity. However, the scientists cautioned 

that the weather was dry, and that the native 

habitat may not have been fully restored at the 

time of the study. Students should realize that 

sometimes a question cannot be answered at 

the end of a study. 

Don’t Judge a Soil by 

Its Color

Introduction

• Explain why red soils are found either 

in strips or in round shapes following a 

wildfire. These are the shapes of the logs or 

the stumps that were burned in the wildfire. 

Do you think that more area is in red 

soils or black soils following a wildfire? 

Why? This is an individual question. Students 

should reason that there is far less land covered 

with old logs and stumps in the forest than is 

covered with brush and small trees. They may 

look at figure 1 for a clue.

• If nonnative invasive plants grow more 

rapidly than native plants, how might 

mycorrhizal fungi be affected? If invasive 

plants grow more rapidly, their roots may grow 

more rapidly as well. This would make the roots 

of invasive species more available to mycorrhizal 

fungi. The mycorrhizal fungi, therefore, may 

begin growing on the invasive roots to take 

advantage of the carbon they have to offer.

Methods

• Why do you think the scientists only 

took samples from the top 5 centimeters 

of soil? Students should be able to give an 

answer and back it up with logic. Although 

roots may go deeper than 5 centimeters, the 

scientists selected 5 centimeters as their limit 

because seedlings will usually root within the 

top 5 centimeters of soil.

• Why did the scientists wait a year to go 

back and identify the species of plants 

growing in the red and black soils? The 

scientists wanted to give the area 2 years after 

the wildfire to allow native or invasive species 

to spread into, take root, and grow in the area.
92

Wildland Fire Edition, http://www.naturalinquirer.org

Findings

• Why do you think plants growing in red 

soil had fewer fungi growing on their 

roots than plants growing in black soil? 

This is an individual question, and students 

should back up their answers with logic. 

However, students should reason that the heat 

from the severe wildfire killed most of the fungi, 

and therefore less fungi was found growing on 

roots in the red soils.

• What effect did wildfire have on the 

growth of new plants in some of the 

areas that were burned? In the severely 

heated areas, the wildfire slowed the growth 

of new plants. The wildfire did not appear to 

affect the areas that were not severely heated 

(the areas with black soils). Plants were found 

to be growing again in those areas. 

Discussion

• If logs and stumps on the ground cause 

a slower recovery of a forest following 

wildfire, should the logs and stumps be 

removed? Why or why not? This is an 

individual question and students should back 

up their position with logic. Students should 

be challenged to think of the animals who 

depend on logs and stumps for habitat, such as 

arthropods and small mammals. 

• Do you think the fungi will ever come 

back to the areas of red soil? Why or 

why not? This is an individual question, and 

students should back up their position with logic. 

However, it could be that eventually, since native 

plants began to grow in red soil within 2 years, 

the mycorrhizal fungi would eventually come 

back and begin living on the plant roots again.

What Is the 

USDA Forest 

Service?

The Forest Service is a part of the 

United States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA). It is made up of thousands of 

employees who care for the Nation’s 

forest land. The Forest Service manages 

more than 150 national forests and almost 

20 national grasslands. These are large 

areas of trees, streams, and grasslands. 

National forests are similar in some ways 

to national parks. Both are public lands, 

meaning that they are owned by the 

public and managed for the public’s use 

and benefit. Both national forests and 

national parks provide clean water, homes 

for the animals that live in the wild, and 

places for people to do fun things in the 

outdoors. National forests also provide 

resources for people to use, such as trees 

for lumber, minerals, and plants used for 

medicines. Some people in the Forest 

Service are scientists, whose work is 

presented in the journal. Forest Service 

scientists work to solve problems and 

provide new information about natural 

resources so that we can make sure our 

natural environment is healthy, now and 

into the future.
93

The Natural Inquirer • Number 13

Which National Science Education Standards 

Can Be Addressed by This Edition of the 

Natural Inquirer? Fight or Light? aPods Rule! Keeping It Local Pecking Order

Trust Is a MustCan We Grow Now?Snake, Rattle, and RollDon’t Judge a Soil By Its Color

Science As Inquiry

 Abilities Necessary To Do Scientific Inquiry X X X X X X X X

 Understandings About Scientific Inquiry X X X X X X X X

Life Science

 Structure and Function in Living Systems X X X X X

 Reproduction and Heredity X X

 Regulation and Behavior X X

 Populations and Ecosystems X X X X X X

 Diversity and Adaptation of Organisms X X X X

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

 Personal Health X

 Populations, Resources, and Environments X X X X X X

 Natural Hazards X X X X X X X X

 Risks and Benefits X X X X X X X X

Science and Technology in Society

 Understandings in Science and 

Technology X X X

History and Nature of Science

 Science As a Human Endeavor X X X X X X X X

 Nature of Science X X X X X X X X
FS-954

Summer 2010

United States 

Department 

of Agriculture

Forest Service

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in 

all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, 

age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, 

parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political 

beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived 

from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to 

all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 

communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, 

etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice 

and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, 

Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20250–9410, or call (800) 795–3272 (voice) or (202) 720–6382 (TDD). 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Natural Inquirer review board: C. S. Porter Middle School, 

Missoula County Public Schools, Missoula, Montana, Mr. Blake Love, Teacher